Physical Training 
for Business Men 




H . Irvinj^ Hancock. 



'6 




6(®TlgM]^^l 



CfiEmiGHT DEPOSm 



# 



By H. IRVING HANCOCK 



The Physical^Culture Life 
Physical Training for Women 
Jiu-jitsu Combat Tricks 
Life at West Point 
Physical Training for Business Men 




Lunge to Sideward. 



Physical Training 

for 

Business Men 

Basic Rules and Simple Exercises for 

Gaining Assured Control of 

the Physical Self 

/By 

Hf Irving Hancock 

Author of ** Japanese Physical Training," ''Japanese 

Physical Training for Women," ''Japanese Physical 

Training for Children," "Jiu-jitsu Combat 

Tricks," "The Complete Kano Jui-jitsu," 

"The Physical Culture Life," "Life 

at West Point," etc. 

Illustrations from Twenty-four Photographs by 
A. B. Phelan 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

Zhc Iftnicftcrbocfter press 

1917 






Copyright, 19 17 

BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 



Ube "Rnfcfeerbocftcr iprcss, IRcw Igorft 

OCT "9 1317 



FOREWORD 

\ A 7HILE the text of this book strikes a 
^ ^ new trail, and presents a new field 
of endeavour in physical exercise that leads 
to masculine poise and success in life, it is 
not claimed that there is in the exercises 
themselves much of novelty. A few of these 
exercises are derived from the author's 
training experiences, but most of them have 
been frankly chosen from among the hundreds 
of splendid exercises that are taught to the 
soldiers of our Regular Army as setting up 
drills and as more advanced physical work. 

It is the selection of these, and their 
adaptation to the problem in hands, that has 
constituted the author's pleasant task. Only 
such moderate and simple movements as can 
be readily learned and carried out in a few 
minutes in the morning or evening, or at 
both times, have been admitted to these 



iv Foreword 

pages. There is nothing of complexity in 
this adapted system, nothing that will cause 
aching muscles, yet the following of the 
suggestions herein set forth will, in a very 
short time, make an outwardly changed man 
of the student. Thereafter he will carry 
himself with ease, poise, alertness— power. 
To the business man, interviewing other 
business men, this new force that springs 
from correct carriage and wide-awake, im- 
pressive appearance will be peculiarly valu- 
able. The value of such improvement, 
however, will be apparent in every man who 
walks, talks, and meets others. In correct 
bearing and outward signs of power the man 
possessing them has immense superiority 
over the one lacking them. 

Slovenly attitude is nearly as fatal to 
success in life as mental sloth can be. An 
alert mind in an alert, well borne, and cor- 
rectly poised body should be the masculine 
ideal among success-seekers. The chapters 
of this little volume were written in the effort 
to take care of the physical aspects of that 



Foreword v 

desirable combination in the pleasing presen- 
tation of one's personality to the beholder. 

A good example is bound to be convincing. 
Therefore the model chosen to appear in the 
accompanying photographic illustrations is 
one of the best qualified in physical appear- 
ance among the younger men of the Army of 
today. He has posed with great attention to 
the duty of making every movement plain 
to the beholder. 

A word must be said concerning Mr. 
Phelan's rather amazing photographic record 
of the model's performances. These photo- 
graphs represent the nearest approach pos- 
sible to a moving picture on a single plate. 
The method of making these unique examples 
of camera work is Mr. Phelan's own invention 
now first set before readers. The photo- 
graphs illustrate the text with the utmost 
clearness. 

The Author. 





CONTENTS 


PAGE 


ORE^ 


fVORD . . . 


iii 


CHAPTER 




L- 


—The Error of Physical Sloven- 






liness 


I 


IL- 


—Training the Feet for Walking 






AND Standing 


15 


III.- 


—Breathing for Form and Energy 


30 


IV.- 


—The First Set of Exercises 


42 



V. — Further Work and Its An- 
alysis . . . . . 71 

VI. — More Drill, with Breathing 

Study 103 

VII. — ^Advanced and ** Stimulant" 

Exercises . . . .134 

VIII. — How TO Use Assured Bodily 

Control . . . .165 

IX. — Keeping Fit through the Day 185 

X. — The Final Factor of Bodily 

Fitness .... 205 



vu 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Lu> 


rcE TO Sideward . . Frontispiece ^ 


FIG. 




PAGE 


I. 


Quarter and Half Bends 


43 ^^ 


2. 


Quarter and Half Bends of 
Knees ..... 


49*/ 


3. 


Backward Trunk Bend 


b^y 


4. 


Sideward Trunk Bend 


59 <"' 


5. 


Forward Thrust of Arms 


63 -^ 


6. 


Sideward Twist of Trunk, Right 
OR Left. .... 


67 '^ 


7. 


Head Turning, Right or Left 


73 


8. 


Knee Raising .... 


77 


9. 


Full Trunk Bend Forward . 


81 


10. 


Extending Leg Forward 


87 


II. 


Downward and Upward Arm 
Swinging 


91 


12. 


Shoulder and Arm Rolling . 


97 



IX 



X 



Illustrations 



FIG, 

13. Downward and Backward Arm 

Swing .... 

14. Side Straddle and Trunk Bend 

15. Lunge to Sideward 

16. Forward Stride, Swing and Knee 

Bend .... 

17. Knee Bend and Thigh Clasp 

18. Shoulder Straightening with 

Towel .... 

19. Trunk Bend, Forward and Back 

WARD * . . . 

20. Knee Work from Horizontal 

Position 

21. Crouch AND Leg Extension . 

22. Crouch and Leg Raising 

23. Crouch and Straddle . 

24. ^Composite Exercise for Limbering 

Up . .... 



105 ^ 
109 ^' 
113^ 

121 ^ 

125 V 

129 ^ 

135 / 

139 

143 ^ 

149 f 

153 . 

157 



Physical Training for Business 
Men 



PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR 
BUSINESS MEN 



CHAPTER I 

THE ERROR OF PHYSICAL SLOVENLINESS 

IT AT in hand, with a cheery, not too 
effusive smile, the young man walked 
into the office of a manufacturer in one of our 
smaller cities. 

'* Good-morning, Mr. Vance," began the 
caller. '*I have called in answer to your 
telephoned request. You wish me to give 
estimates, I understand, through a part of 
your plant." 

. *'Yes; won't you draw up that chair and 
sit down?" invited the manufacturer. 



2 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

"No, thank you, sir. I believe that the 
American business man carries on his business 
best while on his feet." 

Noddingy the manufacturer turned to a 
side table, then wheeled back, setting down 
several sheets of blue prints and figures. 
These the electrical contractor picked up and 
scanned one after the other, jotting down 
memoranda in a notebook. The conversa- 
tion could not be made brief. There were 
many points to explain. Twenty minutes 
passed, the manufacturer, for some reason, 
and against his own efforts to the contrary, 
becoming irritable. At last he touched a 
desk button, saying: 

''That is all the blue prints and I can tell 
you. Mr. Hicks will show you through the 
departments in question for any further 
information you may wish. Will you mail 
me your estimates?'' 

Half an hour later the manufacturer sent 
for another contractor. The second young 
man arrived, accepted a seat, was shown a 
duplicate set of prints and figures, and 



Error of Physical Slovenliness 3 

listened, asking only necessary questions. 
Presently he, too, was taken in tow by Hicks. 

The second caller received the contract. 
His figures were about the same as those 
submitted by the first man. 'There was no 
surface reason why the contractor who had 
been favoured with the first chance to offer a 
bid should not have had the award. The 
manufacturer, however, gave fully, a day or 
two later, his reasons for preferring to do 
business with the second man. 

''I like to do business with an equal," 
explained Mr. Vance. *'That is not snob- 
bery. A clerk, while lacking my experience 
and presumable judgment, can be my equal 
in other respects. Some of my young men 
are. When Hudson came here and insisted 
on remaining standing, I did not object to 
that. I knew that the talk would be a long 
one, but he had as much right to his prefer- 
ence as I to mine. It was the way he stood 
that afflicted my nerves. He shifted from 
one foot to the other; he slouched and 
slumped; almost from the first he suggested 



4 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

discomfort and writhing. While attempting 
to talk on a matter of serious business I 
found my attention constantly diverted 
to his symptoms of physical unrest. The 
symptoms became more pronounced, and 
my attention was more and more shifted 
from what I wanted to say. Finally I was 
obliged to summon Mr. Hicks as a measure 
of sheer relief. That Hudson chap was fast 
taking away from me the power to think, to 
transact business. 

'*The second man, Codman, was refresh- 
ingly different. He came into my office 
. quietly. He bore himself so well that the 
first glimpse of him was reassuring. At a 
glance I knew that he would not distract 
my thoughts from the business in hand. He 
greeted me quietly, and stood a few feet 
away, his bearing dignified, his poise perfect. 
He was physically, mentally at ease; the 
impression that he made was one of power 
and equality. 

''At my invitation Mr. Codman took a 
seat, and his appearance on a chair was no 



Error of Physical Slovenliness 5 

less pleasing. He neither lolled nor sat 
stijBSy. As it was plainly my first shot he 
waited attentively for me to begin the 
conversation. He examined the prints and 
figures attentively, made his notes, and asked 
many questions. Not once did he cause my 
attention to wander in the least from our 
subject. Finally he asked more questions, 
and, looking at him, it was a pleasure to 
answer. Then he went away with Mr. Hicks. 

''Afterwards, when I received the estimates 
from both men, Codman's personality con- 
tinued to impress me. I was certain to have 
to meet the successful bidder several times 
before the work was finished, and I could not 
bring myself to like the idea of more conver- 
sations with Hudson, so Codman received 
the contract. In the subsequent meetings 
with him I enjoyed his physical poise and the 
feeling of equality." 

Not every business man would explain his 
impressions as analytically as did the manu- 
facturer, but all men who conduct large 
affairs will remember many instances in 



6 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

which a caller has failed of the success he 
sought through numerous errors in carriage 
and bearing. More often the man who fails 
to be agreeably impressed by his caller 
realizes only that there was something in the 
personality of his visitor that failed to create 
a good business impression. 

When a man fails in any business enterprise 
through a fault or defect that he could have 
remedied, he is not only false to himself^ hut 
unfaithful to his employer or partner. 

''I'd rather send Johnson out on that deal 
than go myself," declared one business man 
smilingly. ^'He^ll put it through.'' 

That was fine testimony to the worth of the 
employee, even though it may have pro- 
claimed the employer himself as deficient. 
It may be taken as an assured fact that the 
young man so referred to had not only brains 
but an alert and well-poised physical bearing. 

Many a man of large affairs may be heard 
to declare that he wants the ''clean-cut 
young college man" in all positions of im- 
portance. This is largely because the desired 



Error of Physical Slovenliness 7 

young man has attended a college or uni- 
versity where a given amount of gymnasium 
work was demanded of every candidate for a 
degree. The gymnasium work, while it did 
not necessarily create the athlete, did none 
the less bestow upon the young man the 
physical bearing that impresses the beholder 
with the belief that the young man is justly 
confident and successful. 

The athletic figure, while it has its ad- 
vantages, is not in itself a requisite in success- 
ful dealing with others, but proper carriage 
and bearing are the next essentials after keen 
mentality. Any shrewd observer will soon 
be able to pick out examples of men mentally 
far above the average who are not successful. 
Further study, in such instances, will usually 
make it plain that there are defects in carriage 
and bearing. An athlete does not always 
exhibit a convincing personality. Despite 
his strength and endurance he may show 
many signs of bodily slovenHness. 

For men in nearly all the busy walks of 
life there is a happy halfway station this side 



8 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

of athleticism. It is to be found in the train- 
ing of muscles that do not bulge but which 
have been trained to a point in suppleness 
and involuntary ''intelligence'^ that enables 
them to provide for the body the appearance 
of physical ease, alertness, grace, and disci- 
pline. Such exercises will be set forth in the 
following pages. 

Let the reader study a few cases of bodily 
bearing that are palpably bad and he will 
learn how many kinds of defect there are. 
In the first place, many men walk badly. 
All such stand badly as well. A shuffiing gait, 
or one that approaches it, is much more 
common than the unobserving would believe. 
There is the other extreme of the man who, 
in order to give the appearance of alertness, 
adopts a nervous, high-stepping gait that 
resembles "spring halt.'' Then there is the 
man who, to give the impression of walking 
solidly, causes the ioor to shake under him 
and brings down his heels in such violent 
concussions as to jar his spine at every step. 
There is the man who turns his heels over 



Error of Physical Slovenliness 9 

and who looks wobbly in consequence. There 
is the man who rushes, and whose knees 
gradually acquire a permanent bend; he 
always seems in danger of toppling as soon 
as he stops. There is the man who glides 
along stealthily on the balls of his feet and 
who generally gives forth an atmosphere of 
eavesdropping or prowling. 

All of these errors of gait can be corrected 
by careful attention to remedial exercises, 
nor is it too daring an adventure in psy- 
chology to believe it possible that some 
defects in character can be removed at the 
same time. 

No man's outward appearance can be good 
and convey the idea of confidence and power 
so long as the feet are badly used in walking 
and standing. The muscles of the feet can 
be trained so that what may, without pun- 
ning, be termed foundation faults in carriage 
may be set right in a very short time. With 
this success, however, not all the faults of 
bearing are removed. All the way from the 
ground to the neck are muscles that must be 



10 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

taught to work together. A not very numer- 
ous lot of exercises may be made to bring 
about all the desired improvements. 

As in walking, standing well involves the 
proper employment of most of the muscles 
of the body. The drills illustrated and ex- 
plained further on are intended not so much 
for building a powerful frame as for giving 
the muscles just the proper degree of strength 
and elasticity to insure correct carriage. The 
most notable instance that the writer recalls 
of the effects of muscle building for good 
carriage was in the case of a child who 
exhibited such decided spinal curvature that 
the employment of a brace was advised. 
Instead, setting up drills were employed; the 
crooked little spine was in time encased in a 
brace made up wholly of muscles that were 
not powerful, but were strong and supple 
enough to force the spine into correct posi- 
tion and the bad case of curvature dis- 
appeared. Many assuredly healthy men, 
especially those on their feet much of the 
time, would be astonished at the degree of 



Error of Physical Slovenliness ii 

curvature that a physician's measurements 
of the spine would disclose. 

Sitting badly is a fault so common as to 
be the rule and exceptions are quickly noted. 
Correct posture on a chair depends mainly 
upon the back and shoulder muscles. In the 
case of the man who bears himself well when 
sitting these muscles are employed uncon- 
sciously, but that very unconsciousness comes 
from the fact that the muscles have had 
correct instruction in their own tasks. As 
in the case of standing badly, slovenly 
postures in the chair are responsible for much 
of the spinal crookedness that a physician's 
examination would reveal. Usually these 
spinal defects are unsuspected by the adult 
possessor. 

Observe, and it v/ill be noted that nearly 
all men rise from chairs with abrupt jerks. 
Often a rising man will be seen to bring 
himself partly erect and at the same time 
hurl himself a little way forward with a 
catapulting movement. This way of ending 
an interview is often believed to denote the 



12 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

habit of hustling. Certainly it bespeaks 
haste, but it also reveals slovenliness of 
bearing. Rising from a seat should be a 
gradual, though not affectedly slow, process. 
The visitor who hurls himself from a chair 
may display speed, but it will be found, upon 
investigation, that men who employ this 
method of leaving do not always accomplish 
a good deal in a business day. The Ameri- 
can love of rushing is responsible for many 
physical faults that decrease real efficiency. 

During the last few years efficiency experts 
have given a good deal of attention to lost 
and unnecessary movements, but apparently 
not much thought has been given to too 
abrupt movements. Yet the most stupid 
engineer knows that there is something de- 
cidedly wrong with the machine that moves 
jerkily. Much time will be spent in correct- 
ing jerky movements in machinery, and it is 
worth at least a little time to correct this 
fault in the handling of the human body. 
It is not often that anything is gained by 
men in whirlwind speed; system and order 



Error of Physical Slovenliness 13 

in movement are what count for the indi- 
vidual, and also in impressing the beholder 
with a sense of the observed one's general 
competency. 

Power may be well expressed in some forms 
of inanition. The motionless crouch of the 
tiger watching prey does not convey a sense 
of either weakness or indolence. The be- 
holder knows that the energy is there, lurk- 
ing latently in the tiger's muscles, and that 
muscular power will be used to its fullest 
when the spring is made. So the business 
visitor, shifting needlessly on his chair, does 
not impress the beholder with anything save 
irritation, while the man who sits quietly in 
full bodily self-possession not only keeps the 
attention of his vis-d-vis, but in most in- 
stances transacts his business more rapidly 
and more successfully. 

It will well repay every employer or 
executive to pay especial heed to the sitting 
habits of those whom he directs. It is un- 
questionable that many an essay in business 
has been damaged or defeated by the slovenly 



14 Error of Physical Slovenliness 

sitting of a concern's representative. Let 
the reader note the effect upon himself of 
any caller who fidgets and shifts position or 
posture frequently. Then the lesson will 
have been driven home and appreciated. 

It would be possible to make a long list of 
defects in bearing and in carriage. The 
present purpose will be better served, how- 
ever, by stating that a few minutes a day 
spent in going through the drills offered in 
the succeeding pages will eliminate these 
physical faults without the present possessor 
necessarily having become aware of them. 
Systematically and briskly trained muscles, 
when doing their rightful work, bring about 
automatic correction of defects in bodily 
carriage and bearing. There is little value in 
being aware of the former existence of physi- 
cal faults that no longer exist. 



CHAPTER II 

TRAINING THE FEET FOR WALKING AND 
STANDING 

T F it were not such an easy matter to over- 
^ come slovenliness of bearing then it would 
not be possible, in a few weeks, to make such 
an astonishing change in the appearance of the 
army recruit. The change is brought about 
by instruction in the setting up exercises, and 
not until presentable carriage has been se- 
cured in the young man is much attention 
paid to putting him at more athletic work. 

The effort at improvement should begin 
with the proper training of the muscles of 
the feet. It is poor muscular power at this 
important portion of the human anatomy 
that causes the first slumps in good bearing. 
As a people we are inclined to flat-footedness 
in some degree. Any shoemaker can testify 

15 



1 6 Training the Feet 

to this fact. True, the condition exists in 
varying degrees, but it should not be toler- 
ated to any extent whatever. Badly broken 
down arches are much too common, but in 
most men the arches are only partly damaged, 
and all such may be built up into full power 
and endurance. 

How many who have not had exact 
gymnasium instruction have ever given any 
thought to building up the muscles of the 
feet? Comfort at that point is usually 
considered a sufficient desideratum, yet, as in 
other parts of the body, there can be no 
abiding comfort without health. Health is 
dependent upon normal strength, and without 
exercise there is no real strength. Shoes of 
special construction as to the arches, or 
metallic or felt supports for the arches, are, 
except in cases of complete breakdown, 
merely unsatisfactory makeshifts. Training 
exercises for the feet bring the only abid- 
ing improvement. It is an exceptional arch 
that cannot be strengthened by well chosen 
exercises. 



Training the Feet 17 

Of these the most common one consists 
in alternately rising on the toes and settling 
back upon the whole foot. This exercise 
may be repeated rhythmically until there is 
slight fatigue in the soles of the feet. After 
a moment or two of rest the complementary 
exercise may be found by sitting on a chair 
with the feet flat on the floor. Curl the toes 
as much as possible under the foot, at the 
same time contracting the soles of the feet 
as a part of the movement. After doing so 
straighten the feet. This should be done at 
about the same speed as the preceding exer- 
cise, and, like it also, should be carried on 
until there is moderate fatigue in the muscles 
concerned. However, after trials for a few 
days it will be found that it will take a good 
deal of either exercise to induce fatigue, and 
then moderation should rule. 

When the details of this drill have been 
well mastered, the next exercise may be 
taken up, and will be readily acquired. 
Everyone is familiar with the feat of walking 
on the toes. One will also recall how fre- 



1 8 Training the Feet 

quently, when a child, he amused himself by- 
walking on his heels. Even adults when 
crossing a wet street, and not wearing 
goloshes, often cross the wet spot by walking 
on their heels. The exercise in question is 
performed by rising on the toes of the right 
foot and at the same time settling back on 
the left heel with the toes of the left foot well 
clear of the floor. Holding the feet in these 
respective positions, walk the length of an 
ordinary room, being careful not to let the 
sole of either foot touch the floor. Turn, and 
now stand on the left toes and the right heel. 
Repeat several times, taking pains not to 
walk on either heel or set of toes more than a 
short distance and then to change. When 
this performance has been mastered then 
try shifting to toes and heels after each step. 
This will prove more difficult at first, but the 
trick of doing it with a fair degree of rhythm 
will be acquired. It is granted that one looks 
ridiculous when walking in such fashion, but 
what of it? It is fine work for the foot 
muscles, and that is what the student is 



Training the Feet 19 

seeking. The ligaments and musculature of 
the ankles are also strengthened. If the 
student doubts that it also brings the gas- 
trocnemius muscle of the calf into play, let 
him continue this exercise until he feels the 
cramp there. 

If our student dislikes to take comical 
looking attitudes he will feel inclined to avoid 
the exercise now suggested, but if he yields 
to his objection he will miss something of 
value. Stand with the feet so turned that 
they rest on their outer edges, the inner 
edges being quite clear of the floor. Study 
the position carefully until it is exactly 
acquired; then walk the length of the 
room on the feet so managed. Turn and 
next stand on the inner edges of the feet so 
that the outer edges are quite clear of the 
floor. Walk the length of the room. This is 
more difficult than the first phase of the drill, 
and the student will join in the laugh that his 
efforts arouse in a beholder during his first 
few efforts. 

Of course, walking with the feet turned 



20 Training the Feet 

over to either the outer or inner edges is a 
bad thing to do in ordinary walking. But 
the very alternation of the two phases of 
the exercise will correct any such tendency. 
Even one who walks squarely on his feet at 
all times should go through with the exer- 
cise, none the less, for its value in building 
up the proper involuntary control of the 
muscles of the feet. With all the exercises 
for the feet goes one word of caution, and 
that is to refrain, at the outset, from doing 
these exercises over so long a period of time 
that the feet are crippled for the day's work 
ahead of the student of good carriage. 

When the drills already described have 
been mastered with a fair degree of pro- 
ficiency they may be made much more 
difficult by performing them with the knees 
well bent. This is much harder on the foot 
muscles, and, incidentally, on the body itself. 
Skill in the bent-knee form of the work will 
not come immediately, but will develop as 
rapidly as the muscles themselves do. 

A feat that will prove restful after the 



Training the Feet 2i 

bent-knee work will be found in standing 
erect and kicking out vigorously with the 
right leg, which is held straight. The kick 
should be made as far forward as possible, 
with the foot, at the instant of delivering the 
kick, not more than six inches from the floor. 
After three or four kicks delivered with the 
right foot an equal number should be made 
with the left. This exercise may be repeated 
with either foot and leg in alternation at the 
student's discretion. This may be varied, 
after a while, by delivering the kick so that 
the foot extended is at the height of the knee 
of the other leg, and this drill, too, should 
be done the same number of times with either 
foot and leg. Then it may be performed with 
either foot and leg in constant alternation. 

A restful movement may then be had 
by repeating the general exercise with an 
important variation — swinging the extended 
leg forward instead of kicking. This may be 
repeated many more times than the kick 
itself. 

Now, let the student analyze for himself 



22 Training the Feet 

the effects of the exercise and of its milder 
alternative. The most important thing he 
will discover is that it teaches his muscles to 
sustain his body in good poise on the foot 
that is not employed in delivering the kick 
or making the swing. True, there can be no 
really good poise if the foot on which the 
body rests has a weak arch, but all of the 
drills so far described make for the bettering 
of the arch, and therefore arches and poise 
are improved together. 

By way of variation, let us try a walking 
movement once more. Walk the length of 
the room, bringing up smartly the knee of the 
free foot until the thigh is in horizontal 
position. This feat is not at all tiresome, but 
very useful, and the walk should be continued 
in this fashion for a minute at first, and, later 
on, for two minutes. This is one of the drills 
that help much to lessen the fatigue of 
walking through the active day that follows 
the morning bout of exercise. 

Until all this work can be accomplished 
w^ithout excessive fatigue it is not wise to 



Training the Feet 23 

attempt too much in a given bout. The 
finish should find one only moderately 
fatigued. After all the movements described, 
however, can be gone through a number of 
times, and then repeated throughout, there 
is another exercise that may well be added to 
the lot. This is done by standing on the left 
foot and extending the right foot forward so 
that it is about six inches from the floor and 
the leg straight. Move the lifted foot in a 
circle from left to right, the diameter of the 
circle to be about twelve inches. At first 
this circling should be done slowly, but speed 
may be developed gradually. Vary by 
standing on the right foot and circling the 
left foot from right to left. Make sure that 
the same amount of work is done with each 
foot. The muscles of the circling foot and 
ankle are strengthened and rendered more 
supple, while bodily poise is obtained by 
standing easily on the foot that is on the 
floor. 

At the outset give much attention to the 
exercises that have been described as being 



24 Training the Feet 

for the building up of the arch, which is the 
first result to be secured toward clean-cut 
carriage. The kicking, swinging, circling, 
and knee-raising walk are intended for 
developing poise as the arches of the foot 
improve. 

For the first three to five days, depending 
on how long it takes to accustom oneself 
to the exercises without undue fatigue, it will 
be enough to spend eight or ten minutes in 
the morning, and the same amount of time at 
night, on this training of the foot muscles. 
In the morning the best time is immediately 
upon rising and before going to the bath. At 
all times of the year the work should be done 
in a room having at least one raised window. 
In the coldest part of the winter comfort may 
be served by drawing on a sweater. Breath- 
ing, to be described in the next chapter, 
should occupy from three to five minutes, 
after which eight to ten minutes of the foot 
drills should follow. Night exercise should 
be finished a full half-hour before retiring, 
for at the end of the work one's blood is 



Training the Feet 25 

coursing freely, and sleep is not likely to come 
immediately to a stimulated body. 

During the day the student should note 
often how he is walking or standing. If the 
student has acquired the unfortunate habit of 
standing with foot or heel turned over to the 
side he should correct this as often as he notes 
it. Luckily the change to correct position in 
this respect can be made without attracting 
attention. If one or both shoes are ''run 
over" at heel or side of sole, then the shoe- 
maker should be asked to put on new, straight 
heels and taps. There should be no delay in 
having one's shoes repaired in a way to aid 
correct standing. 

Springiness of step will result from devoted 
attention to the foot drills. Many men 
attempt to simulate this springiness by a 
quick, jerky style of walking, which destroys 
effective carriage. One's gait should be 
studied carefully. Most men in this country 
walk incorrectly. Hurried walking should 
be avoided. Any gait with which the body is 
inclined well forward, except when ascending 



26 Training the Feet 

an incline, should be noted and avoided. The 
head should be well up, and the trunk 
perpendicular. A gait that will carry one at a 
rate of three miles an hour on a level sidewalk 
is fast enough. Rapid walking, whether with 
short or long step, makes for a needless waste 
of nervous energy and is exhausting. Many 
men who begin the day with brisk walking 
find themselves, for no apparent reason, 
tired and irritable by early afternoon. 

While, as just stated, the trunk should be 
held perpendicular, this correct feature of 
good carriage can easily be overdone. It is 
within the experience of army officers that 
the absolutely erect carriage taught in some 
European armies is painful to the victim. 
Head and shoulders should be at ease when 
walking or standing. With a proper amount 
of setting up work, as set forth in this volume, 
the natural, erect carriage will be acquired 
without exaggeration. 

Whenever the feet become painfully tired 
rest by sitting is indicated. Strangely, it 
surprises many men to learn that standing is 



Training the Feet 27 

at least six or eight times as fatiguing as 
walking. To realize the truth of this one 
has only to seek two familiar examples. The 
average hotel waiter, standing much of his 
time through the day, soon acquires a 
shufHing gait, and rarely lasts through more 
than four years of such service. Then he 
must find other employment that is not as 
''hard'' on his feet. On the other hand a 
normally healthy man will last through thirty 
years or more as a mail carrier. 

Shoes comfortably large, so that they never 
pinch, and constructed on a last really 
conforming to the lines of the human foot, 
are a prime necessity in maintaining effi- 
ciency of bodily movement. Few men really 
seeking a proper shoe need any advice on the 
subject; when any is needed the shoe dealer 
will supply it upon request. Yet no matter 
how good the shoe be it should be frequently 
examined as to the need of new heels and 
soles. This may sound like a small matter, 
but the requisite amount of attention and 
expenditure will soon more than repay one 



28 Training the Feet 

in increased physical efficiency. Wet shoes 
should never be worn, and it is an excellent 
rule to keep at least one extra pair of shoes 
at one's place of business. 

What men are most in need of exercises 
for the training of foot muscles? First, 
those who move with shuffling gait, which is 
never found connected with proper carriage. 
Second, those who tire easily on their feet. 
Finally, every man will find himself more 
capable on his feet if he spends some time 
daily in fitting them for their important 
tasks. A normal man should find himself 
able to walk for hours daily at need, or to 
stand at ease for several minutes at a time. 
Any falling short of this rule should be re- 
garded as an indication of the need of foot 
training work, and the degree of need can be 
comparatively established by the amount of 
strain incurred in walking or standing. 

Ordinary talcum powder sprinkled inside 
shoes will give the wearer as much comfort 
as is secured by the use of any of the much 
vaunted foot powders. Yet the need of any 



Training the Feet 29 

such powder must always be taken as proof 
of the need of foot training and more suitable 
shoes. 

It would not seem necessary to add that 
corns, bunions, and like growths should be 
promptly and expertly removed, and that 
the feet should be kept free of them. 

If any one wonders how much "bad" 
walking there is, let him station himself in a 
doorway along any much used thoroughfare 
and make an observing study of the feet that 
pass him in five minutes. From such ob- 
servation, carried on so covertly as not to 
attract offended notice, much can be learned. 
It is worth the learning, for whoever walks 
and stands well has gone far on the road to 
bodily control that will mark him among his 
envious fellows. 



CHAPTER III 

BREATHING FOR FORM AND ENERGY 

AS life cannot continue without breathing, 
so are good carriage and bearing all but 
impossible without correct breathing. Ideal 
breathing is exhibited by the young infant 
and by the well- trained singer. The latter' s 
habits of taking in breath are acquired for 
the sake of being able to drive the desired 
amounts of air over the vocal cords, while the 
trained orator's intake and expenditure of 
air are almost as carefully controlled. 

While it is highly essential to learn how to 
breathe correctly, the first thing, of necessity, 
is to make certain that the lungs are habit- 
ually filled to their normal capacity. Most 
men and women have only the larger fraction 
of their lungs developed. No really good 
health exists without normal lung develop- 

30 



Breathing for Form and Energy 31 

ment, and carriage is sadly hampered by the 
lack of it. 

Let the student stand by an open window 
and breathe deeply, trying to force into the 
lungs the greatest quantity of air that they 
can be made to accommodate. Frequently 
the investigator begins to cough, and then, 
in many instances, the window is pulled 
down with a bang and a gesture of alarm 
if it be at the coldest season of the 
year. 

''That cold air is too much for my lungs," 
protests the student. 

''Why?" 

"It set me to coughing. I cannot endure 
as cold air as that in the house when I try 
actually to fill my lungs." 

"Yet you do it on the street." 

One who has never made it a habit to fill 
his lungs to capacity is likely to be surprised 
with a bout of coughing. The explanation is 
simple. The portions of the lungs that are 
not in use lie folded closely. It is the apex 
of the lung that is least developed. Like all 



32 Breathing for Form and Energy 

unused things the membrane at the apex gets 
out of service. Colds frequently start in the 
unused upper part of the lung, while medical 
statistics show that something like eighty- 
five per cent, of all cases of tuberculosis have 
their beginning in the apices of the lungs. 
Coughing w^hen the lungs are vigorously 
expanded results from the sudden rush of 
cold air to the unused parts of the lung 
membrane, which, besides being unused, are 
likely to be diseased in some degree. 

The remedy? A simple one. Continue 
breathing deeply, filling the lungs even in the 
apices. i\fter a few days it will be possible 
to take the deepest breaths without coughing. 
In the few exceptions catarrh is undoubtedly 
the cause of continued coughing, and if this 
be the case the remedy is to be sought from 
the physician. 

By way of developing the lungs and learn- 
ing to breathe properly stand by the open 
window, drawing in air deeply through the 
mouth. Inhale as much air as may be forced 
into the lungs — and then try to get in just a 



Breathing for Form and Energy 33 

little more. Hold the air in the inflated 
lungs for a few seconds, then exhale slowly. 
Repeat a number of times. The morning's 
physical work should begin with from three 
to five minutes of deep breathing. 

While breathing place the hands at the 
sides, over the hips and just under the ribs. 
Unless the sides move in and out ''like 
bellows" the breathing is not being done 
correctly. Study this while inhaling and 
exhaling rhythmically and the trick of right 
breathing will soon be caught. At first the 
trick will be lost, temporarily, whenever the 
student ceases to think about it, but in time 
right breathing will become automatic. 

A second form of breathing, one that makes 
for rapid chest development, is that in which 
the student closes the mouth and breathes in 
through the nostrils. As long as possible 
let it be all inhalation. Through the nostrils 
draw into the lungs as much air as they can 
be made to hold. Even after the last bit 
admissible has been drawn in, inhale two or 
three more quick gulps. Try to hold for 



34 Breathing for Form and Energy 

fifteen to twenty seconds, then let the air 
out with a rush through the mouth. 

Both forms should be employed, generally 
in alternation, through the breathing drill 
period. Always, at first, with hands at the 
sides keeping track of the ''bellows, *' please! 

While the breathing drill should be used 
at the beginning of each morning's physical 
work, conscious effort in this line should be 
made frequently through the day, especially 
when outdoors. It is well to breathe deeply 
while walking the length of a city block, and 
then repeat the effort presently. It is not 
convenient, of course, to try to fill the lungs 
to capacity while walking, but deep, rhyth- 
mic inhalation and exhalation may be per- 
formed. Nor will it be necessary to keep the 
hands on the sides while walking. The 
attentive student will soon begin to have a 
very exact idea as to how his ''bellows" are 
working. 

"But shall I breathe deeply on the street 
on a very cold morning?'' will be asked. 

Yes ; on an unusually cold morning try the 



Breathing for Form and Energy 35 

deep breathing during at least the time re- 
quired to walk two city blocks. As soon as 
the apices of the lungs become accustomed 
to .participation in the act of breathing no 
further coughing will be noted. On such a 
cold morning, strangely enough, the investi- 
gator will discover that he is growing warmer. 
The answer is not difficult to find. Breathing 
oxygenates the blood as it passes through the 
lungs. Impurities in the blood are thereby 
oxidized — ''burnt up.'' Some of this oxy- 
genation — combustion — takes place in the 
lungs. Combined oxygen is carried by the 
blood to all the tissues of the body, and more 
impurities are burned. Combustion, as w^e 
know from the instance of the stove, and 
other examples, produces warmth. Hence, if 
chilled on a very cold morning on the street, 
breathe deeply. The resulting warmth will 
be quickly apparent. 

Breathing drills several times a day are 
necessary at first, for the very good reason 
that the average adult has lost the art of 
breathing correctly. Another reason is that 



36 Breathing for Form and Energy 

^exercise fatigues much less when the body is 
stimulated by correct breathing. Further, 
breathing is a wholly natural and effective 
revivifier of tissues laden with fatigue toxins. 
We are all familiar with cases of men who, 
when they talk steadily for a minute or two, 
attract our attention, and usually our curios- 
ity, by breathing in a more or less distressed 
fashion that brings a tired tone into their 
voices. Many a man catches his breath 
spasmodically after he has talked for a little. 
In conversation all breathing faults are bad 
defects. The exhibition of ''breathiness'' 
distracts attention from the talker's words 
and tends to fasten it upon his physical 
predicament. Many a ''breathy'* man may 
feel that his auditor is not paying attention 
to this bad breathing; the fact is likely to 
be that the hearer is trying to conceal his 
consciousness of the other's trouble as a 
matter of good breeding. 

Several men sat in the anteroom of a 
New York banker, who, on seeing his caller 
of the moment depart, rang his bell. It was 



Breathing for Form and Energy 37 

answered by his new attendant, a keen- 
witted young man with a brogue. 

''Tell Mr. Pixton that I am ready to see 
him now," directed the banker. 

''Mr. Pixton, sorr-rr?'' repeated the at- 
tendant, reflecting. 

"Yes; he's in the room outside. He is a 
stout man, about forty, wears dark clothing 
and overcoat and a derby hat.'' 

Pat recalled having seen two men in the 
anteroom who answered to that description, 
and mentioned the fact, whereupon the 
banker added a few more clues to identifica- 
tion. 

"I know him, sorr-rr!" exclaimed Pat. 
"You mane the gr-rampus, sorr." The 
attendant accompanied this guess with a 
swift imitation of Mr. Pixton's stertorous 
breathing. 

Afterwards the banker confessed that the 
smile with which he greeted his visitor was 
largely a remnant of the laugh he had forced 
back when hearing the attendant's descrip- 
tion« And all through the interview that 



38 Breathing for Form and Energy 

followed the banker was more than usually 
conscious of the caller's defect. 

If the reader be aware of any noticeable 
defect in his breathing let him, if possible, 
stop before going in to an interview, and 
breathe in the open air as he breathes at his 
morning or evening setting up drill. It will 
repay the effort every time. One may show a 
springier step after deep breathing, his eyes 
will take on a brighter look, and there will be 
a healthier glow of colour in his cheeks. A 
small detail? Perhaps, yet surely an impor- 
tant one. 

At any time in the day, whether on the 
street or indoors, when one feels unduly 
fatigued, he will note improvement after a 
brief bout of deep breathing properly carried 
out. It may be done when walking or when 
standing; it may even be done sitting, pro- 
vided the shoulders be thrown well back to 
give the cramped lungs full play. Care 
should be taken, however, that pure air is 
breathed. When the thing is tried indoors 
it should be near an open window. Little 



Breathing for Form and Energy 39 

benefit can come from breathing air that has 
been expelled from one's own and others' 
lungs ! 

Many a reader, after trial, will note that 
deep breathing by an open window just be- 
fore retiring tends to keep him awake for a 
few minutes after his head touches the pillow. 
This is because of the stimulation that the 
exercise has brought about. Is it a bad idea, 
then, to breathe deeply before retiring? By 
no means, and the exercise may be repeated 
as one lies relaxed at full length. Sleep 
refuses to come, at first, because blood has 
been sent coursing through the brain as 
through other parts of the body. The brain 
has a full supply of bright red blood, and 
sleep depends upon a partial anemia of the 
organ. Yet after a few minutes one will fall 
into a sleep that is sure to be all the more 
refreshing, for the pulsing of fresh blood in the 
brain is followed by the gradually increasing 
torpor that steals over the senses and ends in 
dropping into slumber. 

Deep breathing at bedtime has the further 



40 Breathing for Form and Energy 

advantage of serving as a lesson to the body 
just before the subject surrenders his own 
control of himself to the care of his nerves 
and his involuntary muscles — the latter in- 
cluding the heart — as he passes into sleep 
for the night. The little trick of breathing 
that he has just ^taught his body will be 
practised through the hours of rest, for 
nerves and muscles have a faculty closely 
allied to memory. Faithful indulgence in 
deep breathing through the day will, there- 
fore, bring about by degrees the habit of 
right breathing through the hours of slum- 
ber. Once again the student possesses the 
art of breathing that he probably lost 
early in childhood. Since this valuable 
art is to be recovered for use during the 
hours of repose it is all the more needful 
that one's breathing be thoroughly correct 
at all times. 

To sum up, it should be stated that, just 
as air is the most immediate and important 
necessity of the living body, so correct 
breathing during every hour of the twenty- 



Breathing for Form and Energy 41 

four is the first essential of good bodily 
carriage, of freedom from fatigue, and of 
alert, bright eyes. Until the art of breathing 
is mastered little else will help. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE FIRST SET OF EXERCISES 

UNDOUBTEDLY most readers will have 
turned to this and the succeeding 
chapters before giving careful heed to the 
advice offered in the preceding chapter. 
That is because it is wholly human and 
natural to feel that ''exercise is the whole 
thing." He who ponders well on what has 
been said of breathing will be quick to under- 
stand that physical drills cannot be carried 
through in the most advantageous way until 
the lungs have been taught to do their full 
amount of work. 

Let us suppose, however, that the student 
has risen and dressed himself for exercise. 
He proceeds to an open window and breathes 
deeply and fully for two or three minutes. 
Next, he performs some or all of the foot 

42 




Fig. I — Quarter and Half Bends. 



43 



The First Set of Exercises 45 

drills described in Chapter II. A brief period 
of breathing should again follow, with es- 
pecial attention to the suggestions for in- 
creasing chest expansion. Now, he is well 
waked up, keen-eyed, and alert and with 
lungs full of the morning's pure air. He is 
ready for the simple exercise illustrated by 
Figure Number One. 

This is a combination of the quarter and 
half bends. Standing erect, with hands at 
his sides, heels nearly touching, and his feet 
turned out at an angle of about forty-five 
degrees from each other, the student first 
places his hands on his hips. The quarter 
bend is executed by bringing the head down 
to the first forward position shown in the 
photograph. A slight but perceptible pause 
is made, after which the bend is continued to 
the half, the position being indicated in the 
photograph by the lowest position in which 
the head is shown. At this culmination of 
the downward movement there should be 
another slight pause, after which the head is 
raised to the quarter, then to erect position. 



46 The First Set of Exercises 

The entire movement should be executed 
with snap, yet with not too much haste. 
The exercise should be repeated from five 
to eight times, the lesser number on the 
first few mornings, adding a single complete 
movement every few days until the full eight 
are being done at last. It is optional with 
the student, after he has been many days 
at these exercises, to increase the number 
of movements beyond the limit suggested. 
When return is made to erect position it must 
be seen to that the head is fully erect, the 
shoulders well set, and the chest out. The 
method of performing the exercises counts 
for far more than the mere number of 
movements. 

At the outset breathing during all move- 
ments should be studiously watched. After 
a while the movements will become auto- 
matically or involuntarily correct. In low- 
ering the head to the quarter bend inhale. 
In completing the bend to the half exhale. 
On coming up to the quarter bend inhale, 
while the return to erect position should find 



The First Set of Exercises 47 

one with breath exhaled. By repeating the 
movements rhythmically and without exag- 
gerated pause between each completed set 
of movements regular breathing will thus 
be assured. After the exercises have been 
executed for a few mornings, with strict at- 
tention to breathing, the student will find 
himself able to discard strict watch over his 
breathing in any drill that he has performed 
many times. 

The purpose of the exercise just described 
must be stated in plural terms. The effect is, 
first of all, to make the back muscles supple, 
next to render them proof against fatigue — 
backache — and also to insure easier and more 
erect carriage of the body. 

Figure Number Two exhibits the details 
of the quarter and half bends of the knees, 
and this exercise is the natural complement 
of the one just described. The beginning is 
made from the same position, body erect and 
hands on hips. The knees are bent forward 
and out, and the student sinks to the position 
of quarter bend. After a barely perceptible 



48 The First Set of Exercises 

pause the bend is continued to the position 
indicated for the half. The return is made to 
quarter and then to erect position. 

In bending to the quarter position make 
sure that the points of the knees are directly- 
over the toes; at the half bend the knee- 
caps will project out considerably beyond a 
perpendicular line from the toes. In return- 
ing to the quarter bend it is important, at 
first, to make sure that the points of the 
knees are again over the toes. As will be 
seen, this drill, which looks so easy at first 
sight, is one that must be painstakingly 
studied and corrected at first. It is valuable, 
and wholly worth doing in the greatest degree 
of excellence attainable. 

As for the breathing, the student is recom- 
mended to breathe naturally and without 
close observation at first. In later days, 
when the exercise is always performed well, 
then the student may do well to inhale to the 
quarter bend, exhale to the half bend, inhale 
during return to the quarter, and exhale while 
regaining erect position. 




4 Fig. 2 — Quarter and Half Bends of Knees. 



49 



The First Set of Exercises 51 

There are useful variations that may be 
attempted with this exercise. Instead of 
placing the hands on the hips, the student 
may occasionally place his arms behind his 
back, forearms horizontal, and each hand 
grasping the other forearm below the elbow. 
The knee-bends may then be performed in 
the manner just described. Another change 
is found when the student thrusts his arms 
upward perpendicularly, performing the same 
knee bending movements. 

In this work the greatest local benefit is to 
the thigh muscles, but the knee action is also 
rendered more supple and elastic. The 
gastrocnemius muscle, or calf of the leg, also 
comes in for a share of help, which also ex- 
tends in some degree to the feet. When the 
arms are held behind the back in the manner 
mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, aid to 
erect carriage is secured. With arms thrust 
up perpendicularly the balanced poise of the 
body is benefited. 

The photograph shown in Figure Number 
Three presents an exercise that would appear 



52 The First Set of Exercises 

to be extremely simple. Yet this backward 
trunk bend is one that will require consider- 
able practice. Standing with hands on hips, 
bend the head and trunk back in a straight 
line, avoiding any tendency to thrust the 
knees forward, or to move the abdomen 
forward even a fraction of an inch more than 
is absolutely necessary in order to accom- 
plish the bend. To bend back part of the 
proper distance is simple; to make a really 
good backward trunk bend is a matter that 
will call for considerable practice. The 
movement should be repeated at least six 
or eight times, without hurry, and yet with- 
out lagging. 

As for breathing instruction with this 
movement, it may be guessed. Inhale when 
bending backward, exhaling on return to 
erect position. 

Like the forward quarter and half bends 
this movement is designed to improve the 
back muscles and to insure erect carriage. 
The abdominal muscles are sure to share in 
the benefit. No one should feel that he has 




Fig. 3— Backward Trunk Bend. 



53 



The First Set of Exercises 55 

really acquired this simple looking movement 
until he can execute a series of really good 
trunk bends without moving the knees or 
sending the abdomen too far forward. 

Mastery of the details of the three sets 
of movements, in addition to breathing and 
foot work, will be found quite sufficient for 
the first morning bout in which this new work 
is attempted, for each exercise will neces- 
sarily be attempted again a few times. If 
done with vim and snap the first morning of 
such work will result in some fatigue of the 
muscles employed. This very fatigue will 
show the investigator the portions of his 
body that are most benefited. 

Having gone this far the student should 
finish with two or three minutes spent in the 
breathing drills, always, of course, near the 
open window. He is now ready for bath, 
shaving, and the what-not of his usual dress- 
ing details before breakfast. If the student 
be wise he will at night go through all of the 
work so far suggested for him, and it will be 
further proof of wisdom for him to time his 



56 The First Set of Exercises 

evening work so that he is through with it at 
least half an hour before the time he has 
set for retiring. By giving himself a period 
of indolence between evening exercise and 
slumber he Vv^ill drop into bed in a less 
stimulated, therefore less wakeful condition. 

It is seldom advisable to add new exercises 
each day during a period of physical training. 
Those already mastered should be persevered 
in, without additions, until they have become 
something like second nature in the way of 
movement. If the student has put in two 
drill bouts on the first day, and has performed 
them with more than the average amount of 
snap, he may, when he turns out of bed on 
the morning of the second day, be able to 
enter sympathetically into the feelings of 
one rural recruit in the Army. 
' This recruit felt sore in several different 
spots when he appeared for further physical 
drill. 

''IVe found out," he announced to the 
drill sergeant, *'why they call these antics 
settin' up drills." 



The First Set of Exercises 57 

'^Yes/' responded the sergeant, after the 
manner of the minstrel end man. '*And 
why are they called settin' up drills?" 

''Because," retorted the lame recruit, 
rubbing himself afresh, ''I know quite well 
that I didn't do 'em settin' down." 

The most rapid way to recover from the 
soreness caused by new exercises is to take 
more of the same exercises. Therefore, if the 
student on rising decides that he is a bit too 
lame for work on this morning, he may know 
that he has lost one day of progress. None of 
these exercises will tire the softest body to 
such an extent that benefit will not result 
from the next drill, and all, or most, of the 
lameness will vanish at once. 

Two or three mornings after beginning 
exercise it will be well to add the three addi- 
tional feats shown in Figures Number Four, 
Five, and Six. The work illustrated by Figure 
Number Four is as simple as it looks, yet it 
will search out some new muscles that will 
speedily learn to ache, at first, if too many 
repetitions of this movement are attempted. 



58 The First Set of Exercises 

Place the hands on the hips, standing erect, 
and bend over smartly to the right to the 
angle illustrated by the photograph. Having 
reached the side bend, return to erect posi- 
tion. Make five bends to the right, then five 
to the left ; finish by doing four double bends. 
The double bend is accomplished by bending 
to the right and back, then to the left and 
back to erect position. Repeat this three 
times. Above all, do it with a snap that 
belongs to exercise. It is not to be treated as 
a mere matter of leaning to either side. Make 
a distinct though very brief pause whenever 
the return to erect position is achieved. 
Briskness and regularity of movement may 
be secured by counting rhythmically, or with 
the aid of rightly timed music if there be a 
talking machine at hand. 

It is worth while to add that many of the 
exercises offered in this volume may be well 
done to music if the student possess a musi- 
cal ear and a good sense of time. As a rule 
marches are to be used, but musical pieces of 
other tempos will be needed for some of the 




Fig. 4 — Sideward Trunk Bend. 



59 



The First Set of Exercises 6i 

exercises. For each piece of work the student 
must select the musical number that fits a 
given movement. 

For breathing instruction, the student 
should inhale well when bending over, ex- 
haling as he returns to erect position from 
either side. As in other movements, he will 
eventually breathe correctly without giving 
much heed to inspiration or respiration. 

The effect of this movement is excellent 
for insuring poise of body and elasticity of 
gait. The work aids much in insuring correct 
and automatic use of the shoulders when 
walking or standing. The muscles of the 
trunk are strengthened and made more 
supple. This exercise, combined with the 
forward and backward bends, is useful when 
one notes that thickening of the waist line 
which slender persons contemptuously term 
* ' extreme obesity. ' ' 

The next set of movements, as depicted in 
Figure Number Five, will serve as an active 
form of rest from some of the preceding work. 
First position is taken by clenching the fists 



62 The First Set of Exercises 

and bringing the elbows smartly and well back 
over the hips, forearms horizontal, palms up. 
From this position make a quick thrust 
forward, arms horizontal on a level with the 
shoulders and palms downward. In striking 
out to the second position one should use 
real striking vim, as if the head of an arch 
enemy were in exact range. On recovering 
to the first position the elbows should be 
brought smartly back. Repeat the combined 
movement briskly fifteen or twenty times, 
inhaling as the fists are shot forward and 
exhaling as the elbows are brought back. 

Long before the required number of move- 
ments has been completed the area of physi- 
cal benefit will have been detected by the 
student. This work is corrective, in the first 
place, of any tendency to stooped shoulders. 
Enough practice in this work every day is 
bound to produce straight, square-set shoul- 
ders. The rhomboid muscles between the 
shoulder blades receive plenty of develop- 
ment work. The muscles across the chest are 
also well exercised. 




Fig. 5 — Forward Thrust of Arms. 63 



The First Set of Exercises 65 

This is one of the exercises that the student 
may carry with him through the day. When 
one has been at work at an ofBce desk so long 
that he is conscious of a strong wish for 
change of position, it is a simple matter to 
open a window and perform this exercise 
thirty or forty times, next closing the window 
and walking the length of the room before 
returning to the desk. In a day of varied 
activities there are many chances for using a 
few of these brisk thrusts and recoveries. 
Accompanied by correct, deep inbreathing 
of pure air it will act as a restorative from 
fatigue. 

Another movement of value is shown in 
Figure Number Six. This supplements the 
benefits derived from the exercise just de- 
scribed. Bring the arms up from the sides, 
with the upper arms horizontal on the plane 
of the shoulders and resting the finger tips 
on the shoulder caps. See to it that the head 
is held erect and that the shoulders are well 
squared. The feet are not to be moved or 
the knees bent. Turn the trunk firmly, 



66 The First Set of Exercises 

slowly to the right, turning the head in only 
the same degree, so that the eyes look in the 
same direction that the front of the trunk 
faces. Then bring head and trunk back 
to starting position. Now make the same 
movement to the left. On returning to front 
position make the briefest possible pause 
each time, so that the exercise will not have 
the effect of being a continuous turn from 
right to left, or vice versa. Breathing is to 
be done as usual, inhaling on the turn to 
either side and exhaling as the trunk is 
returned to front position. 

This should be done a dozen times at first ; 
that is, six to each side in turn. The work 
will aid in erect carriage and squaring of the 
shoulders. It will also, as the student will 
detect for himself, give full employment to 
the muscles below the shoulder blades. A 
benefit not so readily discovered is the 
strengthening of the involuntary muscles of 
the abdominal region. 

For at least the whole of the first week the 
student should confine himself to the exer- 




Fig. 6 — Sideward Twist of Trunk, Right or Left. 67 



The First Set of Exercises 69 

cises so far outlined. It may be better if 
he confine himself to this number of move- 
ments during the first ten days, with a 
morning and an evening bout. In any plan 
for securing good carriage and sound bodily 
development nothing is gained by too heavy 
or swift work at the outset. Continuity of 
effort is the real factor. Three sets of move- 
ments performed twice a day with vim and 
attention are worth more than twenty ex- 
ercises done only when one ''has time." 

The ^student who goes through with these 
drills faithfully for a week or ten days will 
not require any assurance that it is well to 
continue. He will begin to feel so much more 
alive that the only caution needed, at the 
outset, is one against repeating the move- 
ments too many times. By the time, however, 
that he has finished the course outlined in this 
volume the student will have but little need 
of advice as to how often to perform any of 
the work, or how much of it to incorporate 
into any given bout. With progress in this 
course one becomes his own best judge of the 



70 The First Set of Exercises 

amount of physical work that he can and 
should perform each morning and evening. 

It is impossible to say too often or with 
too great emphasis that right breathing is 
the thing of first importance both during the 
exercise drills and through the business day. 
Every walk out of doors, whether long or 
short, can be made a breathing drill. Deep, 
regular inhalations, each followed by steady 
exhalation, will send new life coursing through 
the body in company with the circulating 
blood. A little fact which will soon be 
discovered is that, if there be a tired muscle 
anywhere in the body, deep breathing of 
fresh air will send balm to that spot. This 
one simple bit of knowledge is of inestimable 
value to one who must be active throughout 
a business day. Verify it for yourself, and, 
having found its truth, give yourself all 
possible benefit from your discovery. 



CHAPTER V 

FURTHER WORK AND ITS ANALYSIS 

DEADY for some more movements? Or 
^ ^ are there a few sore spots in evidence? 
If the latter be the case, read again what was 
written about frequent deep breathing in the 
foregoing chapter. 

None will be able to find anything very 
severe in the appearance of the exercise 
shown in Figure Number Seven. Bring the 
arms to the same position shown in Figure 
Five, with the same attention to erect head 
and squared shoulders. The head is turned 
to the right as far as it will go, but without 
moving the trunk or even the shoulders. 
Try again ! The head will go farther around 
to the right than that! Yes, strain the neck 
muscles. A little more, please! Get your 
head around as far to the right as it can 

71 



72 Further Work and its Analysis 

be made to move. Just a little bit more! 
There ! That ought to pass for a first attempt. 
But do not be afraid to give the neck plenty 
of twisting. Just feel that you are bound to 
see, as nearly as possible, directly in the rear 
of yourself! 

Probably a moment's rest will be desired 
after the head has been returned to front 
position. Now, do the same thing, in the 
same way, moving the head to the left. No, 
do not be satisfied too easily. The head can 
be moved a little farther; get it around as far 
as possible. Do not be in a hurry to complete 
the movement, and do not be too easily satis- 
fied with the degree of turning. When you 
have done your best, however, slowly bring 
the head back to front position. 

This is the whole of the movement, but 
doubtless the student will consider it enough. 
How many times should this complete move- 
ment be performed in a bout? Twice to each 
side, at first; you're welcome. But on the 
second day do it three times to each side, on 
the next four, and so on, increasing the count 




Fig. 7— Head Turning, Right or Left. 



73 



Further Work and its Analysis 75 

by one until you do it a dozen times in each 
bout. 

The reason for this exercise? The student 
will not require more than the first efforts to 
convince him that the work does something 
for the muscles of the neck. Perseverance in 
this movement provides a stronger neck and 
a better poise for the head on its axis. There 
is another equally important benefit. All 
exercises that make for a stronger neck tend 
to increase the size and elasticity of the blood 
vessels that carry the blood to and from the 
brain and other parts of the head. Strong 
neck muscles and consequent development 
of the blood vessels provide a better flow of 
blood to and from the head, and serve in an 
increasing degree as insurance against apo- 
plexy and other troubles resulting from local 
congestion. The man with a strong neck 
and well developed blood vessels there is less 
likely to suffer from headaches. The neck is 
one portion of the human anatomy that is not 
likely to suffer from overdevelopment. It 
may be fairly questioned if there is such a 



76 Further Work and its Analysis 

thing as overdevelopment of the neck; if 
there be, only an extreme athlete will attain 
to that peril. 

Figure Number Eight shows more action 
than its predecessor, but the work depicted 
will prove restful by way of change. Resting 
the hands on the hips, bring the right knee 
up smartly until the thigh is horizontal and 
at right angles with the hip, the lower leg 
perpendicular, and the toes pointing toward 
the floor. Lower this foot beside its mate, 
and then bring up the left knee, next lower- 
ing. At first this should be done slowly, and 
with such measure of thought and observa- 
tion as may be needed. As soon as the move- 
ment has been mastered and balance can be 
maintained easily the speed of performance, 
known to soldiers as cadence, should be 
increased. The exercise, finally, should be 
done at the time one would employ in a fast 
walk. Fifteen or twenty times is the number 
that each knee should be raised before 
stopping. Breathing should be natural while 
the movements are executed. 




Fig. 8 — Knee Raising. 



Further Work and its Analysis 79 

On a country lane one might with ad- 
vantage apply this movement to walking a 
few rods. There probably are reasons why 
the student would not care to walk after this 
manner along city thoroughfares. During 
the exercise bouts, however, walking is not 
to be attempted, the feet returning to the 
same spots on the floor from which they rose, 
and full attention being given to erect 
carriage and correct position. 

Standing erect, lace the fingers back of 
the head at the beginning of the movement 
shown in Figure Number Nine. Keeping the 
knees as rigid as possible, make a full bend 
forward. At first make this bend slowly, and 
experiment to see if the bend may not be 
increased just a bit beyond the plausible 
point. Slowly recover to erect position. At 
the first trial perform this movement four or 
five times, increasing it by one count each 
day until it is done daily fifteen to twenty 
times without resting. As the work improves 
in quality the speed may be somewhat in- 
creased, but this movement should never be 



8o Further Work and its Analysis 

performed rapidly, the main thing being to 
give the body the benefit of the full bend. 

Back muscles are the principal beneficia- 
ries of this exercise, yet the abdominal muscles 
are not slighted, and even the thighs come 
in for a moderate share of help. The com- 
posite benefit to the student is that this 
movement enables him to carry himself more 
easily and with the weight of his body well 
distributed. After halting the exercise on the 
fifth or sixth morning the man who is doing 
it well is rather conscious of the fact that he 
is standing both comfortably and well. 

At the beginning of the bend exhale the 
breath. Inhale deeply on returning to erect 
position. This may, at first thought, appear 
to be a reversal of the usual breathing method 
in these movements. The reason for exhaling 
during the bend and inhaling while return- 
ing is that the lungs are then filled for the 
next bend, which is the harder half of the 
movement. 

When he has mastered the three exercises 
just described the student may do well, for 




Fig. 9 — Full Trunk Bend Forward. 



8i 



Further Work and its Analysis 83 

the next three or four days, to keep to what 
he has already learned, making sure that in 
each bout he goes through the work better 
than he did in the previous bout. While 
making the movements, and while resting 
between them, the habit of analysis should be 
cultivated. It is not at all difficult to find 
out exactly why a given exercise is *'good.'' 
The more one tries to discover the underlying 
reasons for each movement the more interest 
he will take in his drills and the greater the 
benefit he will derive from them. Another 
habit to be cultivated is that of enjoyment. 
Physical exercise performed in a routine 
manner and with only duty as the impulse 
is never as valuable as that which is done for 
the sheer joy of doing it. Joy is as priceless in 
the gymnasium, or in one's chamber, as it is 
in purely mental work. 

When the body is refreshed by a period of 
vigorous breathing, with all the muscles in 
play and the blood surging through the ar- 
teries there should be a feeling of life and 
of mild exultation. Doubtless every reader 



84 Further Work and its Analysis 

will be able to recall schoolroom scenes during 
a period of calisthenics. Some of the pupils 
are smiling and vimful, but there are others 
whose looks are sullen and whose movements 
are as languid as it is safe to exhibit before 
the watchful eyes of the teacher. The sullen 
children look almost pulseless and lifeless, and, 
in fact, are so. These same sullen youngsters 
may be more lively on the playground, but 
they miss great benefit that might be secured 
in the schoolroom drill. Many parents are 
content if their children do not exercise but 
play with spirit. Valuable as outdoor play 
is to the child, it can never take the place of 
disciplined effort in exercise periods. 

What is true of the child is true of the man. 
The reader who feels that it may be well to 
go through some exercises twice a day may 
yet perform them perfunctorily and with a 
sense of boredom, his mind all the time active 
with other matters. Yet his movements may 
be brisk through the business day, and he 
may be blithe most of the time. No matter! 
If he cannot enjoy the sensations produced 



Further Work and its Analysis 85 

by his drill movements, and if he cannot 
perform them joyously and in glee of spirit, 
then he is at best no better off than the child 
sulking during school calisthenics. In that 
case the benefits of disciplined physical 
effort are not for him, and he will do as well 
to stop boring himself twice a day. 

It may be well at this point to say some- 
thing about the possible bathing habits of a 
few. A man of the writer's acquaintance 
indulged for years in cold baths on rising. 
Emerging chattering from the water he 
towelled in frantic haste and then fell briskly 
to work with exercises of his own invention. 
The purpose of his physical activity was to 
warm himself. This accomplished he dressed 
and went to breakfast. 

''In winter, then, you insist upon eating 
that first meal in a warm room, do you not?*' 
he was asked. 

'VYou may well say 'warm,'" came his 
reply. 

It is the writer's belief that in the colder 
months of the year hot baths are better than 



86 Further Work and its Analysis 

cold plunges. There are men, however, who 
can take and enjoy cold baths in the morn- 
ing. Whatever the temperature of the bath, 
however, it should follow, not precede, brisk 
physical work. The man who can endure 
and enjoy cold baths will find that a bout of 
good physical work will warm his body and 
put his blood in far better condition to resist 
the shock of the cold water. Still, the hot 
bath is better for removing from the skin the 
invisible waste products that exercise forces 
through the pores. 

Whether the bath be cold, warm, or hot, 
the body, before entering the water, should 
be given a "dry bath.*' This consists of 
towelling the body briskly to remove as much 
as possible of the perspiration induced by 
exercise. This towel should then be cast 
aside and another used after coming out of 
the bath. 

Nothing in the foregoing should be con- 
strued as being against the use of the cold 
plunge at gymnasium when a hot shower bath 
is first employed. The cold plunge, if one 




Fig. io — Extending Leg Forward. 



87 



Further Work and its Analysis 89 

swim for two or three minutes, or more, is then 
decidedly beneficial at any time of the year. 

On the morning that the reader decides 
that he is ready to add a few exercises to his 
growing list let him inspect Figure Number 
Ten carefully. It is a kicking exercise, but 
it should be noted that it is not a high kick 
that is wanted. The position of the arms is 
the same as is shown in Figure Number 
Seven. The elbows should be well back, 
fists tightly clenched and forearms rather 
tense, while the head and torso are erect. 
The leg is held straight and a goodly amount 
of muscular effort is put into the kick. It 
will be seen that the foot does not clear 
the ground by more than a few inches. At 
the outset the foot is inclined upward at the 
instant of delivery of the kick. This is the 
easier way of doing the movement. After 
two or three days the student should make 
the change of pointing his toes downward as 
the foot goes forward; this makes the exer- 
cise more difficult and fatiguing, but also 
brings better results. 



90 Further Work and its Analysis 

While there are several points in the body 
at which benefit results the student will find 
that the greatest benefit is received at the 
calf of the leg. Especially is this noted when 
the student turns from the first to the second 
method of delivering the kick. By this work 
the calf of the leg is made hardier through the 
play upon the gastrocnemius muscle, which 
gives form to that part. 

Examine the lower portion of the leg and 
determine whether it is hard, moderately 
muscular, or soft. If the latter, then there is 
wide room for improvement that will benefit 
the entire body and even the mental and 
nervous state. One who is habitually tired 
when on his feet is not in good condition for 
any serious part in life. A weak calf carries 
with it the corollary of a weak thigh. The 
man who, after having been on his feet for 
some time, or having walked a few miles, 
rises painfully from his chair, may assume 
positively that his whole bearing is wrong 
when viewed by a critical observer. 

The weakly man does not find it possible 




Fig. II — Downward and Upward Arm Swinging. 



91 



Further Work and its Analysis 93 

to convey an impression of bodily power; 
usually he will find it equally hard, if he be 
observant of himself, to convey an impression 
of mental power. Darwin may have been an 
invalid most of his life, as viewed from the 
strong man's angle. Darwin did not lack 
mental power, but he was a genius ; most men 
are not geniuses, and it is a safe rule, in general, 
that he who does not stand on sound legs 
will often give as poor an impression of his 
mental as of his physical power. Let the 
reader's mind rove among his own acquaint- 
ances and let him note how many assured 
exceptions he can find. After this mental 
inspection the student will be all the more 
ready to give abundant attention to exercises 
that will strengthen his calf and thigh muscles. 
Throughout this volume an effort has been 
made to make any given exercise, except in 
the case of the foot work in Chapter II, 
serve as an antidote or rest from the strain 
that may be induced by the preceding set of 
movements. Such an exercise is shown in 
Figure Number Eleven, Standing erect, 



94 Further Work and its Analysis 

with hands at the sides, the student is to 
raise his hands smartly overhead. Now 
bring the arms down with a swift sweep to 
the position shown with the hands well to the 
rear of the body. Without any pause the 
arms are raised again overhead, then brought 
down and back, up again, and so on. At 
first this movement should be carried on until 
the arms have been raised and lowered from 
fifteen to twenty times, a ^'time'' comprising 
the completed movement until the arms are 
overhead again. Later, more than the given 
number of times may be used to advantage. 

At the outset there will be a tendency to 
bend the body forward as the arms go down. 
This must be resisted. The correct position 
of trunk and head throughout the move- 
ments is erect. Bending forward would deny 
the benefits of this exercise. 

Breathing should be natural, but as soon 
as the movements can be executed with 
speed the intake and expulsion of air should 
be correspondingly vigorous. This is a 
movement in which deep breathing can be 



Further Work and its Analysis 95 

made to serve peculiarly well in building up a 
deep and flexible chest, and the chest mus- 
cles, as well as the lungs, are considerably 
employed. 

While the chest muscles receive employ- 
ment, it will be noted that the abdominal 
muscles also have their employment. The 
greatest effect of all, however, will be noted 
in the back muscles. If the student were 
unwise enough to repeat this exercise several 
scores of times without pausing, it is likely 
that a lame back would apprise him of over- 
employment of the back muscles. It is 
principally through the benefit to the back 
that the movement aids in creating a natu- 
rally easy and correct carriage. Performing 
this work with due attention and speed, 
accompanied bj^ deep enough breathing, the 
student will find himself aware that he is 
standing straighter than usual by the time 
that he finishes the movement. 

An entirely different movement, yet some- 
what similar in its effect of straightening and 
improving shoulder carriage and movement. 



96 Further Work and its Analysis 

is displayed in detail in Figure Number 
Twelve. From a position of standing with 
arms at the sides, the arms are raised shoulder 
high. The shoulders are briskly rolled back- 
ward and forward by means of making the 
fists move in circles about a foot in diameter. 
The photograph explains the idea exactly. 
It is done with plenty of vim, but trunk and 
head should be held erect, though at ease 
and without straining. There is a natural 
tendency with beginners in this movement 
to incline head and trunk backward, but 
this must be overcome. Throughout the 
body must be held in position, yet so easily 
that the arms and shoulders do all the work. 
Fifteen seconds is at first long enough to 
continue the movement, which, after some 
deep breathing, may be repeated. Later 
twenty seconds, and finally half a minute, 
may be given to each of the two bouts. 

When well performed, in addition to being 
an excellent shoulder exercise, this movement 
provides much accelerated circulation in the 
parts employed. It is a wholly satisfactory 




Fig. 12 — Shoulder and Arm Rolling. 



97 



Further Work and its Analysis 99 

"warmer-up, " for which reason it may often 
be well used at the commencement of a 
morning bout of exercise in a well ventilated 
and chilly room. It is also excellent work 
with which to close the drill period in the 
morning, though hardly one to be used too 
close to bedtime on account of its tendency 
to stimulate excessively through its heavy 
increawSe in the circulation of blood to and 
from the head. 

In the beginning it will be enough to 
acquire the technique of the movement. 
Afterwards it will be well to make a conscious 
effort, in moving the shoulders, to get them^ 
as far backward and forward in rolling as can 
be managed. In the more exaggerated form it 
will not be well to continue the exercise too long. 
As the movement ceases breathe deeply, but 
while going through the drill breathe natur- 
ally. A variant of this movement is to go 
through with it more slowly, but with con- 
sciously greater muscular effort, inhaling as 
the shoulders are rolled backward and exhal- 
ing as the shoulders are rolled forward. 



100 Further Work and its Analysis 

By the time that the student has gone this 
far he will do well to be content, for a few 
days, with the exercises already learned. It 
is time to make sure that he is getting the 
most out of the exercises so far learned, that 
he is doing each exactly as directed, and that 
he is getting the most possible from each 
movement. It is easy to learn any of the 
exercises offered in this book, but it is quite 
another thing to do some of them well. 

At this point the reader should also take 
account of stock of benefit derived during 
the time he has been engaged in the drills. 
Does he stand more at ease than formerly? 
Does he carry his head in better poise? Has 
the carriage of his shoulders been improved? 
Does he breathe more easily? Can he walk 
farther? Does he display an appearance of 
better bodily control? Above all, does he 
feel more ''alive" than he did at the begin- 
ning of the course? If he be obliged to 
answer any of these questions with a candid 
negative, then he will not have far to seek for 
the right explanation. 



Further Work and its Analysis loi 

If the time devoted to the exercises up to 
this point has been well spent there will be a 
very decided improvement in the reader's 
excellence of bodily carriage. The improve- 
ment will have been so great, in fact, that 
many a reader will feel tempted to disregard 
the suggestion to refrain from mastering new 
exercises at once; he will wish to go ahead 
learning new work and gaining new benefits. 
But nothing will be gained from hurry, while 
much will be lost if time be not devoted to 
gaining greater skill in the movements al- 
ready learned. 

Perhaps the reader will discover that 
certain of the exercises performed in the 
morning are likely to cause lameness in some 
of the muscles later in the day. In that case 
the same movements should be employed 
in a before-bedtime bout, but at this end of 
the day they should be performed a less num- 
ber of times, then employed the next morning 
in the usual way. By such treatment the 
tendency to lameness will speedily disappear 
in a man with anything like normal muscles. 



102 Further Work and its Analysis 

In many little things connected with the 
bout the student will find his own intelligence 
a safe guide. It will aid him in deciding 
many a little question that can hardly be 
anticipated on the printed page. Yet mere 
indolence and a dislike for much physical 
exertion should never be permitted to mas- 
querade as ''intelligence"! 



CHAPTER VI 

MORE DRILL, WITH BREATHING STUDY 

CROM this point most of the exercises 
'*• will prove to be of the kind that call 
for more vim and the use of greater strength. 
A good example is illustrated by Figure 
Number Thirteen. 

In this movement, as usual, the student 
begins by standing with hands at his sides. 
The first phase is executed by clenching the 
fists and thrusting the elbows behind the 
body, forearms horizontal over the hips. 
The elbows should be brought back with a 
jerk that is felt in the shoulder blades. 
Having reached this position the fists are 
shot upward over the head with arms fully 
extended. This is done with as much vim as 
though the student were striking forcibly some 
object overhead. Now, instantly relax the 

103 



104 Drill, with Breathing Study 

arms and swing them as shown, downward, 
carrying the fists behind the thighs. Reach- 
ing this position, swing the relaxed arms 
back to the overhead position, next dropping 
the arms to the sides in the position at 
beginning. 

Now repeat, doing it slowly at first, until 
the whole movement has been mastered and 
is performed rhythmically. For the first 
two or three mornings it will be sufficient to 
do this exercise ten or twelve times, afterw^ard 
increasing the number slowly to twenty or 
more. Should the reader find it a favourite 
exercise he may safely go through with it 
thirty or more times in a bout after he arrives 
at the point where such number no longer 
wrenches or fatigues. 

While doing this the body is not to be 
inclined forw^ard or backward, though there 
will be a very natural tendency to commit 
both of these faults. A glance at the illus- 
tration will show that the body is held erect 
throughout the exercise. 

As to breathing, that will better be done 




Fig. 13— Downward and Backward Arm Swing. 105 



Drill, with Breathing Study 107 

naturally at the outset. Later, should the 
reader prefer, let him inhale steadily until 
the arms have been swung back overhead, 
exhaling rapidly as the arms are dropped to 
beginning position at the sides. 

It will not be necessary to state which 
muscles are benefited by this movement. 
The effects will be at once apparent to the 
student. While no one exercise movement 
can suffice for any one, the one just described 
combines the excellences of several that have 
already been offered. 

Not only should this movement be used 
in the morning bout daily after it has once 
been adopted; it should be used again in the 
evening, though with a less number of 
repetitions. When the muscles have become 
accustomed to the vim and snap imposed the 
movement will be found to possess a de- 
cidedly stimulating character. 

Relief from the strain of this exercise is 
shown in Figure Number Fourteen. From 
the beginning position with hands at sides 
the student hops and straddles, at the same 



io8 Drill, with Breathing Study 

time extending his arms overhead. Next he 
bends the trunk forward to half bend, or 
lower, at the same time swinging his arms 
downward and thrusting his hands between 
and to the rear of his legs in the exact posi- 
tion shown. Then the arms are swung up 
over the head and the body bent backward. 
This should be performed, in the beginning, 
six or eight times; later on the number 
should be increased to twelve or fourteen. 

At the outset this movement should be 
executed slowly, but after two or three 
mornings the speed should be increased 
somewhat, though never to the extent of 
making it a positively brisk movement. The 
breath should be inhaled on the downward 
movement, exhaled on the return to erect 
position and the bend backward. There 
should be no pause between return to erect- 
ness and the bend backward. 

Only a little study of the illustration will be 
needed to make plain the execution of the 
exercise 'depicted in Figure Number Fifteen. 
The first phase is performed by closing the 




Fig. 14 — Side Straddle and Trunk Bend. 109 



Drill, with Breathing Study iii 

fists and flexing the arms over the shoulders, 
as shown, with the knuckles to the rear. At 
the instant of doing this step to the right on 
the right foot. Next lunge sideward to the 
right as shown and extend the arms sideward, 
knuckles still to the rear. Return to begin- 
ning position, again flexing the arms over the 
shoulders as before. Repeat three times to 
the right, then perform the same movement 
four times to the left. Then perform, in 
alternation, four times to either side, breath- 
ing naturally but deeply all the time. 

Apart from the muscular work involved 
this complete movement is a fine energizer 
of the circulation of the blood. The greater 
the speed, of course the more vigorous 
becomes the pulsing of the blood through the 
arteries. Yet excessive speed of movement 
is not called for. After he has accustomed 
himself to this exercise the student will learn 
for himself the rate of speed from which best 
results may be obtained. 

Whenever any of the exercises result in too 
violent breathing the reader will know that, 



112 Drill, with Breathing Study 

first of all, he has indulged in too much speed. 
Any ordinary acceleration of the breathing 
should be ignored, but if the efforts of the 
lungs become too pronounced, the double 
hint is conveyed for a short rest, and for 
greater moderation in speed thereafter. 
Once the body has become really accustomed 
to the work there will be little danger of 
becoming badly winded. 

At this, as at every other stage in training 
for good bodily carriage, careful, analytic 
heed must be given to the subject of correct 
breathing. In the performance of each and 
every exercise the breathing should be deep 
enough and heavy enough to enable the 
student to carry on his exertions in comfort, 
but the writer has frequently observed men 
in training who appeared to believe that 
exaggerated heaviness of breathing was called 
for. The careful, exact accommodation of 
breathing to the amount of effort employed 
is a subject worthy of the student's utmost 
attention. No movement described in this 
volume calls for very audible breathing, and 




Fig. 15 — Lunge to Sideward. 



113 



Drill, with Breathing Study 115 

if an exaggerated result be obtained the 
reader should at once reform in this respect, 
and thereafter should pay far more attention 
to the work of the bellows located behind his 
ribs. 

It is not a difficult matter to acquire, while 
exercising, such a false idea of the employ- 
ment of the lungs that a new and deplorable 
* ' breathiness ' ' is created. If the fault appears 
it should be removed as speedily as possible. 
In some subjects it may be found that a few 
of the exercises described between these 
covers will call for something like twenty 
per cent, harder breathing than one naturally 
makes use of in walking briskly. Should the 
increase in heaviness of breathing with these 
movements appear to be greater than that, 
the reader should at once change both his 
v/ay of doing the exercise and his manner 
of accommodating effort with breath. The 
greater part of the movements offered in this 
volume do not call for more rapid or violent 
breathing than one uses in walking. 

As the last statement may appear to bring 



ii6 Drill, with Breathing Study 

up the question as to the heaviness of breath- 
ing required in walking, it is well to make it 
clear that pedestrianism is never known to 
provoke excessive breathing unless a heavy 
burden be carried. A '* green** soldier, carry- 
ing fifty pounds of extra weight on a long 
march, may easily fall into the trick of puffing 
his way along, yet not even the newest 
recruit would do this if he were free of all 
burdens save his own weight — unless he 
carried what is only another form of extra 
weight, obesity. In a man who is close to 
normal weight, who is walking along a good 
road, there will be no tendency toward hard 
breathing. 

On the other hand, the deliberate intake of 
deep breath while walking is not excessive 
breathing, and it will do no harm. For that 
matter, there are few men who enjoy deep 
breathing, while walking, for more than the 
length of an average city block. After going 
that far under increased lung power, they 
will naturally drop back to normal, easy 
intake of breath. 



Drill, with Breathing Study 117 

In exercising, however, it is very easy for 
the misguided student to acquire the habit of 
breathing stertorbusly while going through 
brisk or fatiguing movements. It is a mistake 
of course, but one which, once recognized, 
can be easily corrected. Too heavy breath- 
ing, while exercising, causes fatigue early in 
the bout. It causes a more rapid heartbeat 
than the exercise itself should provoke. One 
of the apparent effects of over-breathing 
easily and early recognized by the observant 
student is a more or less marked redness of 
the face. This silent signal should be heeded 
and' the remedy found. 

Verification of the foregoing may be readily 
provided by the student if he will perform a 
very simple experiment. When he begins a 
bout of exercise with deep breathing of fresh 
air let him prolong this part of the morning's 
work to really undue limits for once. In the 
end he will note some feeling of distress that 
will presently make him glad to stop this part 
of the drill. He will note, also, fatigue and a 
rather bored disinclination to go on with the 



ii8 Drill, with Breathing Study 

movements of exercise. After two or three 
minutes of relaxing, though, he should find 
himself over the bad effects of his experiment, 
unless he has carried it too far, which he is 
not likely to do. 

One of the bad effects that result from the 
habit of breathing too stertorously while 
exercising is that the heart is forced to do 
more work than the actual physical endeavour 
calls for. Persistence in excessive breathing 
is likely to bring feelings of distinct dis- 
comfort around the heart. If this stage be 
reached, either through exaggerated experi- 
ment or misdirected physical effort, the 
indicated need is very apparent. Rest! In 
students below normal in health the rest 
might well be extended to last until the next 
bout of exercise is due, when more care should 
be used with the breathing. 

In the same way that all faults of breath- 
ing should be watched for during an exercise 
bout, they should be stalked and noted 
through the business day. Let us assume 
that the reader was formerly *' breathy" 



Drill, with Breathing Study 119 

after any unusual exertion during the business 
day, and that he now discovers either that 
he is no longer so, or that he is so in much 
less degree. If all ''breathiness'' has dis- 
appeared, he will know at once that he has 
been conducting his breathing work along 
right lines. Should he observe that he is at 
least much less troubled with shortness of 
breath than formerly, he may well conclude 
that he has eliminated some of his earlier 
trouble, and that continued physical work, 
backed by careful study of his progress, will 
presently put his breathing apparatus in the 
condition that he desires. 

On the other hand the student who was 
not formerly annoyed by *'breathiness,'' 
but who has lately acquired it in some degree, 
will know that he has been managing both 
his breathing drills and his exercises badly. 
He will then know that he needs to give 
most careful attention to his breathing during 
bouts. Fortunately, this latter class will 
never be large, and no one needs belong to it 
who does not want to. 



120 Drill, with Breathing Study 

It will be recalled that several of the fore- 
going exercises have been recommended for 
strengthening the shoulders and forcing the 
student to carry them more squarely. It is 
not at all likely that any student who, before 
taking up these exercises, carried his shoul- 
ders well will find them now drooping for- 
ward. But here and there a reader may 
discover that, after he has followed the ex- 
ercises for a fortnight or so, the slump in his 
shoulders has not been much improved. In 
that case his analysis can lead to but one 
conclusion. He has not made good use of the 
shoulder work, and should at once set about 
remedying this slight in his physical work. 
The muscles will hold the body in good or had 
carriage, just as they are trained or encouraged. 

Let us suppose another case, of which 
there are likely to be many examples. The 
reader, after going through the drills with at 
least fair enthusiasm for a fortnight or so, 
suddenly notes a disinclination to go on with 
his training. The causes leading to this state 
of mind may be numerous, but at least the 




Fig. i6 — Forward Stride, Swing and Knee Bend. 121 



Drill, with Breathing Study 123 

principal ones may be stated. The most 
likely cause of the disinclination is that of 
late the student has not been as much in the 
open air as he should have been. He has 
been breathing bad air; possibly, because of 
extremely cold weather, he has been sleep- 
ing in a room no window of which was open 
during sleeping hours. The second most 
likely cause of the disinclination is that lately 
the student has not been granting himself his 
full amount of accustomed or normal sleep. 
In this case disinclination to physical drill is 
caused by the presence of fatigue toxins in his 
body. Ordinary fatigue, apart from the bed- 
time variety, may often be overcome by 
moderate indulgence in exercise ; fatigue 
caused by lack of sleep is only made greater 
by physical exertion in any form. During 
any period when there is unavoidable lack of 
sleep exercise should be discontinued. 

As to what constitutes a normal amount of 
sleep for a male adult there are many opin- 
ions and none of them infallible. The writer 
feels safe in saying, however, that no man 



124 Drill, with Breathing Study 

can do wisely with regular sleep of less than 
seven hours in the twenty-four. Eight hours 
furnishes the more commonly accepted stand- 
ard. Nine hours would be excessive for most 
normal men, though not for all. Should there 
appear to be, for several consecutive days, 
a real bodily demand for more than nine 
hours of sleep in the twenty-four, then un- 
doubtedly the case belongs to the physician, 
not to the trainer. 

Now let us consider the exercise depicted 
in Figure Number Sixteen. The starting 
position is not shown, as it consists of stand- 
ing erect with hands at sides. From this 
position take a long stride forward with the 
right leg, and at the same time flex the arms 
with the elbows out sideways and the closed 
fists over the shoulders, knuckles upward. 
From this attitude face abruptly to the left, 
pivoting on both heels, and strike the arms 
out to either side vigorously to a horizontal 
position, with the knuckles down. In this 
position the knees are bent as shown. In- 
stantly recover to position of the forward 




Fig. 17 — Knee Bend and Thigh Clasp. 125 



Drill, with Breathing Study 127 

stride with the right leg with arms flexed and 
fists over shoulders. Bring the right foot 
back beside the left and return to original 
position with hands at sides. 

Repeat this with the difference that the 
forward stride is made with the left leg, 
followed by facing to the right, at the same 
time bending the knees and striking out 
sideways with both arms. Perform the move- 
ments several times, first to right and then to 
left. In bending the knees it is necessary 
that they be well bent, the weight resting on 
the full foot after the pivot on the heels. 

At the outset there should not be too many 
repetitions of this exercise, but the number 
in a given bout may be very gradually in- 
creased at the reader's discretion. In the 
case of these movements, as with some other 
sets, the number of times of performance 
should be fewer in the before-bedtime bout 
than in the morning drill. It is decidedly a 
stimulating exercise as well as being one that 
makes very surely for satisfactory bodily 
carriage. 



128 Drill, with Breathing Study 

Much simpler in detail is the work shown 
in Figure Number Seventeen. Standing with 
hands at sides, raise the arms horizontally 
sideward. Bending the right knee and the 
trunk obliquely forward to the right, lower 
the arms and clasp the right thigh tightly. 
Then rise to position with arms sideward. 
Repeat to the left, then to the right. Carry 
this work on continuously, alternating the 
movement to right with one to left until the 
movement has been executed several times 
to each side. Breathe naturally while doing 
so. 

At first thought the movement shown in 
Figure Number Eighteen may appear to be 
very decidedly a ''resting'* exercise. There 
is nothing violent about the exertion itself, 
though at first the shoulders may ''catch it.'' 
Grasping either end of a folded towel with 
the hands, arms down in front, swing the 
towel over the head, bring the arms down 
with the hands behind the thighs. Imme- 
diately return to the former position. Repeat 
to a total of fifteen or twenty times, counting 




9 Fig. 1 8 — Shoulder Straightening with Towel. 129 



Drill, with Breathing Study 131 

a ''time" as the completed movement from 
front to back and return. The reader who 
wishes an additional exercise for straighten- 
ing the shoulders will find that he has it in 
this movement. Moreover, this movement, 
performed a sufficient number of times, makes 
the student feel uncomfortable if he tries 
to slump his shoulders forward immediately 
thereafter. 

It will soon be discovered that all three of 
the last offered movements have a strong 
effect in securing upright carriage. If the 
truth of this be not at once, apparent, as 
regards the movements shown in Figures 
Number Sixteen and Seventeen, the results 
will none the less soon be discovered. The 
last exercise of the trio, with the towel, gives 
the culminating touch. 

Once again it will be well for the student to 
halt in the matter of learning new exercises. 
Those that he has mastered so far may well 
claim his full attention for a few days before 
seeking new muscular fields in which to 
conquer. Even though the reader were never 



132 Drill, with Breathing Study 

to learn more than six exercises, it would be 
better to perform that number over and over, 
doing them well, than to have several times 
as many of half-digested movements. 

In each morning's bout the reader should 
make careful analysis, in order to determine 
which of the movements possess the most 
stimulating effect. Only a portion of the 
'* stimulants '* should be attempted in the 
before-bedtime bout, and all that are em- 
ployed in the evening should be performed a 
less number of^times, and with a trifle less 
vim, than in the morning drill. One of the 
delights of attaining to correct bodily carriage 
will be found in the gradually increasing 
knowledge of the especial aim of each move- 
ment. The reader's own sensations, carefully 
studied, on returning to starting position and 
halting, will prove the best possible guide, 
after a few days of training, to the benefits 
that the trainer expects the student to derive 
from each set of movements. 

A clever English satirist has declared that 
his chief sensation when exercising alone 



Drill, with Breathing Study 133 

is one of utter foolishness. This confession 
implies another. The writer in question, 
evidently, did not continue his exercising 
after the second morning, possibly not after 
the first. Had he persevered for a few days, 
following a sensible system of drill, he would 
have discovered the pleasure that comes from 
daily physical drills. This pleasure is found 
not only in the satisfaction derived from 
improvement, but also in the consciousness 
of increasing insight into the reasons that un- 
derlie the choice of all valuable exercises. 



CHAPTER VII 



ADVANCED AND ''STIMULANT*' EXERCISES 



D Y the time that the reader has gone this 
far in a systematic attempt to master 
the exercises presented, occupying, say, a pe- 
riod of a fortnight of training before taking 
up the work to which we now come, his 
back muscles, regardless of their earlier 
condition, should now be in excellent form. 

The movements that will be described in 
this chapter must, if followed in the manner 
advised, soon complete the work and give 
the student correct bodily carriage and the 
best physical appearance of which he is 
capable. Some of the work that is now to 
come would cause a beginner's back to ache 
badly if much persisted in, but the student 
who has gone in proper fashion through the 

134 




Fig. 19 — Trunk Bend, Forward and Backward. 135 



'^ Stimulant " Exercises 137 

earlier drills need look forward to no com- 
plaint from his muscles. 

Figure Number Nineteen is all but self- 
explanatory. The student takes erect posi- 
tion with his hands on his hips. Not bending 
the knees, he executes the half -bend forward, 
pausing just long enough to make a ''hitch" 
in the movement when the bend has been 
completed. Then at once the head is carried 
erect again, with another ''hitch'' on reaching 
that position, then bending backward from 
the waist line as far as he can go. After that 
he returns to the position of head erect, 
followed by the half-bend, and the entire 
movement is gone through with again. At 
first this should be done not more than a 
dozen times, count being taken as the head 
reaches the half -bend in front. Later on the 
number of counts may be increased as the 
student judges his power to perform without 
undue fatigue. 

By way of caution it should be said that 
not less than a full half-bend forward should 
be accepted. One of the reasons why this 



138 ''Stimulant" Exercises 

movement was not advised earlier in the 
course is that it would then have called for 
harder back work than the student might 
have felt inclined to give. Care should also 
be taken to make the backward bend of the 
trunk a really good one. It is the thorough- 
ness with which this exercise is performed 
that will make for good results. The final 
point to be watched is that the knees are not 
permitted to bend at all when bending for- 
ward, and only very slightly when bending 
backward. 

In case the back does ache a bit after 
executing this movement with becoming vim, 
the student may lie down — on the floor. He 
will then be in exact position for the exercise 
exhibited by Figure Number Twenty. The 
hands are to be clasped under the back of 
the head. Bring the right knee up until the 
thigh of that leg stands at right angles with 
the trunk. This is done rather vimfuUy, with 
the foot brought to the position shown by the 
lower of the two elevated feet in the illustra- 
tion. Then, briskly, the foot is raised to the 




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*' Stimulant" Exercises 141 

uppermost position shown, after which it is 
lowered quickly to the position it has just 
left. Then, with a .jerk, the leg is straight- 
ened, the right foot returning to the side of its 
mate. Then the same set of movements is 
executed with the left foot. Each leg should 
be exercised in this fashion ten times, and 
of course the number may be increased in 
following days. 

Should the student wish to get the most 
from this exercise he may amuse himself by 
finding how easily and quickly he can return 
from the prostrate to the erect position. It 
will be much better done after a week of effort 
than on the first day. 

In each of the foregoing exercises the 
breathing should be natural; that is, taken 
easily and as needed, without special direc- 
tion or thought. Neither set of movements 
is hard on the student's wind. 

Figure Number Twenty-one calls for work 
that, once the principle has been mastered, 
makes for speed and agility. The student 
throws himself forward, resting on his hands, 



142 '^ Stimulant" Exercises 

then extending one leg back and resting it 
on the toes, as depicted. Then the other leg 
is extended, the foot resting in the same way 
beside its mate. Now, with a spring, the left 
foot is brought forward, as shown in the 
illustration. Then it is thrown back beside 
its mate, and it is the right foot's turn to take 
a trip forward in similar fashion. This is 
repeated, in alternation, until each leg has 
been through the movement about ten times. 

Should it be found, as occasionally is ob- 
served, that one leg behaves much better 
than the other, the principle of alternation 
may be broken every now and then, and 
more than half of the work given to the less 
nimble leg. As soon as both limbs respond 
equally well the principle of alternation is to 
be taken up and continued. Breathing is at 
all times to be natural and easy. 

All three of the exercises so far suggested 
in this chapter may be mastered, in principle, 
within five minutes. They are worthy, 
however, of being studied carefully through 
several bouts, for, while the theory is easily 




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''Stimulant" Exercises 145 

obtained, skill, grace, and rhythm of move- 
ment do not come immediately. There 
should be no attempt at learning further work 
until the trio just described can be performed 
well every time that they are undertaken. 

With twenty-one exercises, in addition to 
the two forms of deep breathing and the 
foot-work, the student has now a rather 
formidable lot of work to go through in 
fifteen or twenty minutes. At the outset he 
would not be able to accomplish so much, 
but with practice come sureness and agility, 
and also freedom from aching muscles. Much 
may be done in fifteen minutes or a slightly 
longer period. From the beginning, and as 
long as these exercises are continued, the 
cardinal principle should be established that 
the work is not to be done with such brisk- 
ness or with so little pause between exercises 
that the lungs and heart are overtaxed. 
When the student finds himself beginning to 
pant he will know that the signal has been 
hoisted for a pause and the recovery of his 
wind. With such simple caution employed 



146 *' Stimulant" Exercises 

the drills will do no harm to the man in 

normal health. 

This caution observed, agility and speed 
should be used to the limit of safety after the 
training has been going on for ten days or a 
fortnight. The earlier days of training are 
really spent in accustoming one's body to new 
habits. After those days have been passed 
the aim should be toward ever-increasing 
virility of movement — always within safe 
limits as outlined above. 

Whatever length of time be devoted to the 
morning bout, the evening drill should occupy 
not more than two thirds as much. It must 
always be remembered that a really over- 
stimulated circulation of the blood does not 
make for early or sound sleep. Any tendency 
toward wakefulness and restlessness after re- 
tiring for the night should be regarded as an 
indication of the need of reforming some 
features of the evening bout. 

By the time that the course has been 
pursued to this point the student should be a 
keen observer of benefits derived from the 



'' Stimulant " Exercises 147 

training. If his color be good, his eyes bright, 
his body dominated by a sense of capability 
and well-being, he has won the full reward 
from his efforts. If he be still inclined to have 
aching muscles he may know that he has 
either overdone his exercising, or has omitted 
it too often. Should he find his eyes dull and 
have a general feeling of heaviness, the fault 
may proceed from incorrect application of 
the drills, or from lack of sleep. It is assumed 
that, in any event, the student is free from 
dissipation. No man can use alcoholic 
beverages and exercise with any hope of 
benefit. Combined, they impose an undue 
tax upon the heart, and that is only the 
beginning of a chain of ills resulting from the 
combination. 

Some years ago a man complained of the 
flabbiness of his muscles. Naturally the 
writer advised him to take up a course of 
exercises. Probably the resulting idea was 
conceived only hazily, for the man afterwards 
announced that he had joined a bowling 
club and was putting in an hour and a half 



148 ''Stimulant" Exercises 

an evening at that sport. The plan was bad 
in itself, for no one form of exercise can be 
made to serve the purposes of a systematized 
combination of exercises. 

''Have you been bowling tonight?*' in- 
quired the writer. 

"Yes; Tm on my way home." 

" Do you catch that scent of whiskey on the 
air?'' was the writer's next question. 

"Oh, yes," smiled the new convert to 
exercise. "I think it must come from my 
breath." 

"Then you've been taking a few drinks?" 

"I have to w^hen I bowl," was the prompt 
confession. "After I have been at it a few 
minutes I find my heart complaining, for I 
have a weak heart. A drink of whiskey 
every fifteen or twenty minutes, and I go 
right through with my bowling, and I feel 
quite happy." 

"How do you feel now?" 

"A bit tired. The exercise is beginning to 
tell on me, now, and I think I am ready for 
bed." 



"Stimulant'' Exercises 151 

This man heard, with patent astonishment, 
the writer's opinion that, if he really had a 
weak heart, he would derive vastly more 
benefit from the physician's care than from 
the bartender's, and that alcohol and exercise 
combined only made a weak heart weaker. 

*^What you feel, right now," the writer 
continued, ''is undoubtedly some muscular 
fatigue and much more reaction from alcohol. 
Go to your physician, and if, after examining 
you, he approves of exercise for you, take 
up some systematized course of varied 
exercises, and leave alcohol wholly out of 
your scheme. Alcohol and exercise are like 
oil and water; they do not mix, and the man 
who won't leave alcohol alone must give up 
hope of benefit from gymnastic work." 

That man walked away plainly uncon- 
vinced, but he soon after gave up — exercise. 
Later, in the parlance of the street, he ''gave 
up" a considerable sum of money to the 
management of one of the well-known cures 
for inebriety. 

Fortunately, advice against the use of al- 



152 '' Stimulant " Exercises 

cohol is not as necessary now as formerly. 
Only a small minority of active men of busi- 
ness use alcoholic beverages today. Those 
who do are crowded to the wall everywhere, 
for large and 'Agoing'' business concerns will 
have nothing to do with even the ''moderate '' 
drinker. He may go along for a while with the 
semblance of success, but he is soon scrapped 
along with other junk. The time must come 
when it will be discovered by his business 
superiors that he is given to the daily use of 
at least small amounts of alcohol. 

Success goes today to the men who are 
surely alive, but they must really look the 
part. Hence the student is urged, as he 
progresses in the training advised in this 
volume, to keep close watch over his appear- 
ance. After training his carriage and gait 
must be easier, his general air much improved, 
and his eyes brighter. If he be dissatisfied 
with the results of such inspection he should 
seek the answer in the foregoing pages. It is 
there, somewhere. 

One of the best ''fresheners" before leaving 




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*^ Stimulant" Exercises 155 

one^s home in the morning is the use of a 
cosmetic that never injures the skin, that 
most natural and valuable of cosmetics, cold 
water. In all except the coldest months this 
cold water should be dried only by patting 
the face gently with a towel. Ninety-nine 
men in a hundred will prefer the same method 
of drying even when the mercury skulks 
around the zero mark. This shock of cold 
water brings added colour to the cheeks and 
new lustre to the eyes. One business man of 
the writer's acquaintance uses it just before 
stepping out of his office at any time in the 
business day. His associates comment upon 
the invariable freshness of his face and the 
look of vitality in his expression. 

Two forms are possible in the set of move- 
ments exhibited in Figure Number Twenty- 
two. The usual way of taking this exercise 
is to bend over until the palms of the hands 
rest on the floor, care being taken that the 
knees bend very little to accommodate the 
posture. Raise the right foot with a swing, 
carrying it hip high. Return the foot to 



156 ** Stimulant'' Exercises 

position beside its mate, then go through the 
same movement with the left foot. At first 
four swings may be made with either foot. 
Later the number may be increased, though 
not by too many times as discomfort will then 
arise from holding the head down so long. 

As a variant, or addition, a vigorous kick 
backward may be used, at the same time 
carrying the foot as nearly to hip high posi- 
tion as is convenient. An excellent way to 
employ this form of the movement is to add 
two kicks apiece to the four swings with each 
foot. On return to erect position the reader 
will be able to tell for himself what muscles 
have been most employed and are therefore 
benefited. 

''Stimulant" may be fitly applied to the 
exercise shown in Figure Number Twenty- 
three. The student crouches, palms of the 
hands on the floor, feet resting on the toes 
and heels well up. A straddling hop is made, 
bringing the feet into the other position shown 
in the illustration. Now the feet rest on their 
inner edges. A second hop carries the student 




Fig. 24 — Composite Exercise for Limbering Up. 157 



''Stimulant" Exercises 159 

back to the crouch, and the movement is 
completed. At first from six to eight hops 
should suffice, but the number may be 
increased later. 

As. the essential principle of this exercise 
lies in the hop the reader should note that 
sKding the feet sideward is not at all the same 
thing, and should not be used as an easier 
alternative. The hop makes for springiness, 
which is the excuse for its employment. 

Detailed study must be accorded to Figure 
Number Tv/enty-four. Impressive carriage 
and appearance are much needed by those 
who would succeed in the business world. 
Undeniably the reader who could appear 
before another man looking exactly like the 
illustration would secure his host's attention 
instantly. After scanning this picture for a 
moment one feels that the old many-headed 
and many-limbed Hindu idols are not at all 
incredible beings. 

For the student who has mastered all the 
foregoing exercises this complicated set of 
movements is intended as the show-piece. 



i6o ''Stimulant '* Exercises 

The network of human members looks more 
bewildering than it really is when well 
executed. 

There are three positions to be observed. 
For the first the student, standing erect, 
vdth hands at his sides, begins by turning his 
head squarely to the right, at the same time 
bringing the right arm, fist closed, upward 
until the upper arm is horizontal. The fore- 
arm is brought over until the hand is over 
the shoulder, the hand opening and fingers 
touching the point of the shoulder. The arm, 
v/ith fist once more closed, is moved back to 
the side, when the fingers are extended, the 
head at the same time moving back to the 
front. At the same time that the head is 
turned and the arm raised the right leg is 
raised, sideward, the thigh being horizontal 
and lower leg hanging. The leg is lowered to 
normal position as the head is turned front- 
ward and the arm is lowered. Now this 
movement is repeated to the left. 

The second position is taken by standing 
erect, hands on the hips. The right leg is 



'* Stimulant'' Exercises i6i 

raised obliquely forward to the right until 
the thigh is at an angle of sixty degrees from 
an imaginary horizontal line passing through 
the hips. At the same time that the leg is 
thus raised the right hand is carried to a point 
about nine inches behind the right hip, the 
arm being fully extended and palm to the 
front. Return to erect position, hands on 
hips, and repeat the movement to the left. 

For the third phase, standing erect, hands 
at the sides, the arms are raised to vertical 
position overhead, palms turned in. The 
arms are next lowered to an angle of sixty 
degrees from the vertical to sideward. After 
the briefest pause at this angle, the arms are 
then lowered, and the fists, which were closed 
at the reaching of the sixty-degree angle, are 
opened as the arms fall into natural position 
at the sides. 

Something of a feat of memory being in- 
volved in the performing of this exercise it 
will need to be repeated studiously, phase by 
phase, with many references to the illustra- 
tion. When mind and muscles have both 



i62 *' Stimulant'' Exercises 

memorized the task then the student will do 
well to go through the combined set of move- 
ments from four to six times in any given 
bout. 

When possible this last work should be 
executed slowly before a pier mirror, for the 
effectiveness of the exercise depends largely 
upon the correct observance of the angles di- 
rected for the various movements with arms 
and legs. By the time that they can be 
repeated flawlessly in sequence the reader will 
then do well to increase the speed reasonably. 
He will possess a feat that the uninitiated 
will find it impossible to follow. 

Should the reader wish a name for this 
climax in drill he may be interested to know 
that one irreverent observer called it ^'The 
Spider.'' It might equally well be designated 
'*The Hindu Idol." By whatever name it 
goes it will, if performed accurately and with 
fair speed, bewilder the observer. 

By the time that the reader has really 
mastered, past the '* forgetting point, " all the 
exercises that have been described he will be 



*' Stimulant" Exercises 163 

in possession of a system of training which, 
followed daily, in morning and evening bouts, 
will make incorrect bodily, carriage impossible 
except in moments when he might wilfully 
and intentionally distort the natural lines 
of the body. In a word, after a few weeks 
with these drills, faithfully performed, the 
body will naturally fall into the correct pose 
whether seated or standing. 

When the system is learned thoroughly, 
and correct bodily carriage has been secured, 
it is not to be assumed that the need for the 
work has ceased. Three weeks should be 
ample time in which to learn all the move- 
ments and how best to apply them in each 
individual case, but the morning and evening 
bouts should be continued for at least three 
months. The wisest student will be he who 
makes at least a morning bout a part of his 
daily routine through the years. Even the 
student who discontinues these physical drills 
after three months should take up the work 
again every now and then, persisting for at 
least three weeks each time. 



164 *' Stimulant'' Exercises 

Should the reader live or at any time be 
near an American Army post, he should make 
an effort to secure permission to be present 
at one or more of the drills in which the 
soldiers go through a long list of setting-up 
drills. He will learn much from listening to 
the military instructor and through watch- 
ing the men execute the movements. If he 
witness the work of trained soldiers he will see 
a nearly faultless performance. On the other 
hand, should the men be recruits the visitor 
will gain much from seeing the unerring way 
in which the instructor singles out and 
corrects men who are executing any of the 
movements even a shade less correctly than 
may be properly expected. 

Now that all of the exercises illustrated 
have been explained the writer, in the re- 
maining chapters, will discuss ways of round- 
ing this system into a method of the greatest 
obtainable perfection. 



CHAPTER VIII 

HOW TO USE ASSURED BODILY CONTROL 

\ X 7HEN the reader has acquired all of the 
^ ^ exercises it will be time for him to 
make a lay-out of the work according to 
his own ideas and recent experience. As a 
general rule it may be stated that all of the 
movements described in these pages should 
be executed each day. As there should be 
morning and evening bouts thoughtful atten- 
tion should be given to a definite system of 
dividing the work up between the two bouts. 
It has already been suggested that the 
evening bout, terminating at least twenty 
minutes or half an hour before retiring time, 
should be not more than two thirds as long 
as the morning drill. Thus, if fifteen minutes 
be devoted to the work in the morning, ten 
should suffice at night. If twenty minutes 

165 



1 66 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

be given to morning exercise, the evening 
period should last from twelve to fourteen 
minutes. 

Following the same principle the really 
stimulating exercises should be noted ; of these 
two thirds should be listed for the work on 
rising, the remaining third being saved for 
the evening bout. Moreover, the lightest of 
the stimulating movements should be those 
done at night. 

Rather more than half of the foot exercises 
explained in Chapter II. should be employed 
in the morning, and these the harder ones; 
the remainder should be practised at 
night. 

It would be a mistake to use, invariably, 
the same movements for the morning bout 
and one invariable set of exercises for the 
evening period. Less monotony will be 
noted if the program be changed every 
two or three days. The only exception 
should be with regard to the distinctly 
stimulating movements. The best-liked of 
the lighter exercises may, at the reader's 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 167 

discretion, be very well incorporated into 
both the morning and evening work. 

There are other ways, of combining the 
exercises into a program that will often 
be advantageous. Consider the one shown 
in Figure Number Twenty-three. Perhaps 
the reader has advanced to the point where 
he goes through the movement eighteen 
times in a bout. He may find it worth while 
to go through it ten times, early in the bout, 
and later to do it eight times more. Un- 
doubtedly the greatest benefit is derived from 
doing any given exercise a few times only, and 
then alertly springing to some other form of 
activity. One man of the writer's acquaint- 
ance hangs on the wall a list of exercises, 
with the number of times each is to be 
performed. Then he goes through the list 
three times, each time accomplishing one 
third of the number of movements set down 
against each form of work. This is an ex- 
cellent way, and one that gives a feeling of 
greater variety than there actually is. 

Another method is to make up the list and 



1 68 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

go through each movement half of the re- 
quired number of times until the last exercise 
is reached. This last one is done the full 
number of times, and then the list is gone 
through again, backward, each movement 
now being given the remainder of the number 
of times set down against it. The ingenious 
reader can find many ways of making up a 
list, and it can even be done so that the 
impression is almost created that no two 
morning nor two evening bouts are alike. 
The less monotony one is conscious of the 
better the results of physical exertion are 
likely to be. 

To some the plan w^ll undoubtedly suggest 
itself of separating out all the stimulating 
exercises and taking these in succession as 
soon as the body has been warmed up with 
some light preliminary work. This plan has 
not so much to commend it, for then all the 
hardest work is performed at one period in 
the bout, and many would find that after 
that the body is a bit too lame to do even 
the lighter movements with the proper snap 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 169 

or benefit. Much the better way is to go 
through two or three light movements, and 
then to alternate the heavier and the lighter 
work, always finishing any bout with an ex- 
ercise or two of the light and swift type. 

How shall the reader know when the first 
benefits appear? The best and probably the 
first indication is at hand when no exercise 
period of ordinary length produces lameness 
either at the time or afterward. The second 
indication is when the bout can be conducted, 
from beginning to end, with no consciousness 
of overtaxed breathing. 

Of course the ultimate benefit is found in 
improved carriage. The reader may not 
hope to know when this benefit begins. Some 
of it is there, undoubtedly, after the very 
first bout. But growth in correct carriage, 
for the reader who works well and persist- 
ently from the outset, will be so gradual as to 
seem insidious. The ultimate discovery of 
benefit, which comes after several weeks of 
constant drill, is made when the student at 
last becomes aware of the fact that it requires 



170 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

real and conscious effort for him to slump 
into any exhibition of bad carriage. After 
this, if the exercises be continued daily, 
proper carriage will become automatic, for, 
as the brain and nerves are creatures of 
memory, so are the muscles in a different 
degree. Muscles that have been trained to 
hold the body in correct position almost rebel 
if the owner of the body attempts any dif- 
ferent kind of position. 

Setting-up drills have for their purpose the 
teaching of good habits to the willing body. 
Just as good habits may be acquired and 
fixed, so may bad habits. Every reader 
knows some man who walks with stooped 
shoulders that surely amount to deformity, 
and, at first sight, suggest the existence of a 
hump. This is a case of muscles that have 
been trained into bad habits. Another man, 
while carrying himself fairly straight, none 
the less exhibits a pair of shoulders of which 
one may sag fully two inches below the plane 
of the other. Another instance of muscles 
that have been taught bad habits. Incident- 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 171 

ally the first man is cramping his lungs and 
preventing enough fresh air from reach- 
ing their apices. The second man is fos- 
tering a condition that will, some day, 
make it difficult for him to walk many miles 
in a day. 

In business offices where there is much 
latitude as to deportment many a man will be 
found who hoists his feet to some support as 
often as he can and lolls back in his chair. 
This poor fellow is teaching his body a com- 
plicated set of bad muscular habits. His 
back muscles may be among the first to feel 
the unconscious attack. Even the man who 
sits much of his time with his knees crossed 
is teaching some of his muscles pernicious 
tricks, and in the end he will surely have to 
pay for his stupid neglect of his physical 
condition. Yet men who indulge in these 
negligent habits do so in the belief that they 
are making themselves more comfortable. 
In the end they really make themselves more 
uncomfortable, for their lounging habits 
have taught their muscles tricks that call 



172 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

for further indulgence in defect-making 
habits. 

It will be worth every reader's time to note 
carefully just how many lolling habits he has, 
and to make himself aware of their character 
and effects. One may assuredly rest himself 
by sitting, but he will secure no advantageous 
rest unless his muscles are trained for what 
should be regarded as correct and normal 
positions. The reader, however, who wishes 
to make a catalogue of such harmful practices 
should do so before he has gone too far with 
setting-up drills, for the time will come when 
he has them no more. The change is in- 
visible in a given day, though in the end 
there will be all the difference between bad 
and good. 

''Do you see that man out there — the one 
with the shade over his eyes?'' inquired an 
employer, stepping to the glass door from 
which a view could be had of the counting- 
room force. ''He is a good man and a 
privileged one because of his value to the 
place. You will see that he is lounging back 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 173 

in his chair, his feet crossed over the rim of a 
waste paper basket. No; there he goes; he 
has turned around to his desk, and is humped 
up over his work. He is going through a mass 
of reports that require inspection, with 
further report from him. Can you see his 
feet? No, for he has placed them on the 
foot rest of his desk — a part that there never 
should be to the desk. He has wheeled 
around because he must write more than a 
few words. There is Smith going over to 
speak with him, so he is jumping up and now 
sits on the corner of his desk, twirling a ruler. 
Time that man for ten minutes and watch 
him." 

The timing was done, and a count kept. 
The man under observation made twenty- 
eight sharply different poses in that time, 
though some were repetitions of former ones. 

"An efficiency expert would note a great 
deal of lost motion in that chap,'' suggested 
the visitor to the employer. 

*'IVe often considered the idea of having a 
motion picture camera man come and keep a 



174 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

film running on that man for five minutes/' 
grimaced the employer. '*I know that 
Brower would be astonished if he saw the 
film run off on a screen." 

'^What is his trouble? St. Vitus' dance?" 
was asked. 

'' Nothing like it," came the quick response. 
''Brower is a fellow of tremendous nervous 
energy, but he hasn't learned how to con- 
serve it. He wants to do a great amount of 
work, and, as IVe told you, he really is a 
valuable man, but he would be worth a lot 
more, to himself and to me, if he could 
eliminate the jumping-jack defect from his 
make-up. I pay him fifty dollars a week. 
Now, let me point out another man to you." 

Returning to the glass door another man 
was indicated. He sat at his desk in easy 
pose, industriously going through letters and 
making brief notes thereon. At the end of 
two minutes there had been no change in his 
pose other than what was actually necessary 
to the performance of his work. An office 
associate stopped to speak to this man; he 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 175 

turned sideward and raised his head that he 
might look into his visitor's eyes, but there 
was no other change of pose. The conversa- 
tion over, the man under observation dropped 
his glance back on his work. Later he had 
occasion to consult a reference system at a 
distant point in the counting-room. Without 
a false motion he rose, walked without hurry 
to the row of cabinets, found quickly what he 
wanted, scanned the card, made a note of the 
information, and returned to his desk. For 
three minutes more there was hardly a move- 
ment by the body of the busy worker. Then 
he pressed a button at his desk. A steno- 
grapher came to him and seated herself. For 
four or five minutes he dictated short letters, 
hardly moving a muscle as far as a rear view 
could determine. The stenographer depart- 
ing, he merely let his glance fall to his work 
again. 

''That's Mackey," said the employer, 
when the visitor returned to the latter's desk. 
''No jumping-jack, is he? His salary is four 
thousand a year, and he is going higher 



176 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

before long. Brower? I don't know. It will 
depend, I guess, on whether he is able to get 
his mind off his bodily antics long enough to 
give a really better grade of attention to the 
business problems that I want him to work 
out for, me. I wish there were some school or 
institution where such things were taught. 
In that case Td make Brower a present of the 
fee for the course. As for Mackey, that 
young man would be wasting his time taking 
such a course. He has learned that when 
working at a desk the greatest comfort comes 
from making the fewest unnecessary move- 
ments. But, anyway, Mackey is stronger 
and more enduring than Brower." 

Undoubtedly the secret behind Mackey's 
greater strength and endurance lay in the 
fact that he had had systematized train- 
ing for the muscles that governed his bod- 
ily positions and movements. Originally, 
Mackey had undoubtedly taught his muscles 
a good deal. Now, his muscles took charge 
of his body automatically, and enabled it to 
perform the physical part of his work with 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 177 

the least expenditure of energy and a result- 
ing great increase in his comfort. 

When, in a large business house, any 
important promotion has just been made 
there is bound to be a great deal of humiliated 
guessing on the part of expectant candidates 
who have been passed over. In cases of 
nearly equal ability, as shown by records of 
achievement, it would astonish the reader^ 
possibly, if he could discover what an 
important part has been played by the 
successful one's bodily carriage and deport- 
ment. In instances where a man is to be 
promoted past performances — the writer has 
this on the assurance of some large employers 
— do not always count for as much as might 
be expected. 

Excellent past performance on the part of 
a man, say in Grade D, is not always to be 
taken as sure indication that he will presently 
average as well in Grade C, or perhaps in 
Grade B. The higher the position to which 
he may be advanced, the more uncertain it is 
whether the Grade D man is going to be equal 



178 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

to the new exactions. Most can naturally be 
expected from the man who is thoroughly 
master of himself. A bright mind, demon- 
strated application, good habits and efficient 
control of the body and its resources are all 
factors in a man's availability for going up 
higher. Employers will often admit that 
they are governed a good deal by the way 
the man carries and deports himself. Char- 
acter, and especially disposition, are often 
revealed far more in a man's physical habits 
than he may be aware. 

Especially valuable to any man is a reputa- 
tion for capacity for close attention to de- 
tail. Real mastery of setting-up drills, with 
thought intensively applied to discovering 
principles and to arranging improved varia- 
tions in programs for bouts, will soon breed 
a better brand of attention in most men. 
Army officers tell us that setting-up work 
does more than correct bad carriage in the 
recruit; it gives him perhaps his first real 
training in attention and discipline. It will 
very likely do as much for the civilian. The 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 179 

man practising alone, and doing it faithfully 
and intelligently, will improve his quality of 
self-discipline, which is the avowed aim of all 
forms of discipline. 

"That man,'' said an engineer, *'is the 
best foreman I have. He hasn't had as much 
experience as some of our foremen, but he 
knows how to take orders and how to interest 
his workmen in carrying them out with him. 
He came to us from the Army, in which he 
served as a sergeant during his last two 
enlistments." 

"What gave you the best understanding 
of the meaning of discipline when you were 
in the Army?" the ex-sergeant was asked. 

"Everything in the training did its share," 
was the reply. "It began with the first hour 
spent at setting-up drill, when I was a recruit. 
That taught me to obey, and to think while 
obeying." 

With these few suggestions, let the reader 
arrange his morning and evening programs, 
paying due heed and giving due weight to 
each of the exercises and the purposes for 



i8q Use of Assured Bodily Control 

which they stand. Nor should any pro- 
gram be followed during many successive 
bouts. It is doubtful if there can be one best 
arrangement of the program. It should be 
changed as occasion dictates. It may be 
that the student stands more erectly than he 
did before, but is conscious that the small of 
his back is one of his weak spots. In such 
case he should rearrange his list, and very 
likely the number of counts given to some of 
the exercises; By studying the purposes of 
the various movements he will know why 
he makes alterations in the program. If 
he thinks, he will help his mind as much as he 
does his back. 

There are men who pride themselves on 
never being late at their offices or behind- 
time at an appointment. They do well to be 
proud, yet possibly they do not devote as 
much thought and effort to knowing how 
they are going to perform their tasks after 
they arrive. Punctuality is an excellent 
habit, but many good habits are needed in 
adding up the total that is called character 



Use of Assured Bodily Control i8i 

or success. While training one's self to 
possess a valuable assortment of good habits, 
the reader should never lose sight of the fact 
that setting-up drills were devised, in the first 
instance, for giving the body's muscles the 
most perfect habits obtainable. 

Perhaps one more hint is needed for the 
making up of the bout programs. What 
exercises, if any, may be omitted from the 
day's work? None of them! Each has its 
definite part to do in creating poise and 
balance for the well-managed body. As to 
omitting, the only question that may properly 
arise is as to which exercises may be left out 
of the morning bout for the reason that they 
are more valuable in the evening bout. On 
that head the writer deems it better to offer 
no suggestion beyond the one already given, 
that the most stimulating exercises, when 
discovered to be such, be mostly reserved 
for the morning bout, the least exacting only 
of the stimulating movements being allowed 
a place on the evening program. 

In the case of a reader here and there it 



1 82 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

may happen that some local lameness will 
persist for several days after beginning the 
work. Should the reader make his lameness 
known to his friends he is likely to receive a 
host of suggestions as to liniments and the 
like. In the writer's experience witch-hazel, 
unmixed with any other substance, is most 
useful. A small quantity should be applied 
with the hand and rubbed in until dry. The 
friction should be more than moderate. 
Probably the friction will bring about the 
greater half of the good accomplished. 
Alcohol is often recommended for rubbing 
over lame parts. Clear alcohol is harmful to 
the skin, and should never be used unless 
diluted with an equal volume of water. Even 
in its weaker form it is better simply as a 
cleansing accompaniment of the bath than for 
relieving local lameness of the muscles. 

The reader who takes up these exercises, 
and then finds, or imagines he finds, that he 
can do them only three or four mornings in 
the week, will be nearly as well off if he give 
them up altogether. The old physical sloth- 



Use of Assured Bodily Control 183 

fulness will return in nearly undiminished 
force on the days in which the movements are 
omitted. The truism that practice brings 
perfection is truer in nothing else than in the 
case of physical work. Constant practice is 
what is meant by the word. The reader who 
doubts this may some day have a practical 
demonstration through illness. An indisposi- 
tion that prevents him from exercising for 
three or four days, with an added delay of 
equal length before he feels that his strength 
has been restored, will soon show him, on re- 
suming, how much he has lost through the 
unavoidable omission of the drills for several 
days. 

He who embarks in any new enterprise, at 
first perhaps a bit dubiously, is soon reassured 
when his experience shows that he has acted 
wisely. When the new enterprise continues, 
and turns out to be increasingly better than 
he had expected, his belief and enthusiasm 
mount rapidly. This will be the case of the 
reader who invests a small portion of his 
time in the enterprise of acquiring better 



1 84 Use of Assured Bodily Control 

bodily carriage and control. His enthusiasm 
will grow with the realization of increasing 
profits. Here and there will be a student 
who may be tempted to seek physical riches 
by investing more and more of his time. In 
the matter of physical profit-making, as in all 
other activities, it is well ever to keep in mind 
that common little word, ''moderation.'' 



CHAPTER IX 

KEEPING FIT THROUGH THE DAY 

'* TT is one thing to leave home in the 
'"• morning feeling fine and fit. But it 
is quite another thing to feel fine and fit at 
the end of an unusually hard day." 

This complaint is often made, and with 
justice, by men of average amount of en- 
durance. Perhaps the day has called for 
an unusual amount of walking, or an ex- 
cessive amount of standing. Mental work 
alone does not bring excessive fatigue to the 
healthy body. When one who has been 
sitting nearly all day is physically tired, then 
the fault, for fault it is, must be charged to 
bad bodily habits. Hard manual labour, 
of course, makes the worker tired, and for 
this there is no remedy save rest. Yet the 
man who has been walking for hours, or, 

185 



1 86 Keeping Fit through the Day 

worse still, has been standing on his feet for 
hours, moving but little, may, if he will go 
about it in the right way, feel and look en- 
viably fresh when evening comes. 

In the first place it is to be remarked that 
not enough men take real care of their feet. 
They think they do, but proof to the con- 
trary may be found just inside their shoes. 
If one would give fully as much heed to his 
feet as he does to face and hands, the total 
of human misery would be greatly reduced. 

Corns, bunions, and callouses are frequent 
disturbers of individual peace. In the Army, 
inspection of feet is a frequently recurring 
practice. In civil life each must attend 
to his own inspection. Foot comfort is 
primarily served, of course, by wearing 
properly fitting shoes. On this head a good 
many pages might be written. It is not 
enough that the shoe be of the right size. 
It should also be of the right, natural shape. 
When it isn't, real foot comfort is simply 
out of the question. This should be the 
point first studied. Be sure that the shoe 



Keeping Fit through the Day 187 

is built on a last of natural shape. If in 
doubt, obtain expert guidance in the matter. 

There is an all too prevalent opinion among 
men who really give thought to the housing 
of theit feet that it is well to have a shoe a 
size or a size and a half too large. That is 
an error. The too-large shoe is merely less 
hurtful than the too-small shoe. The foot 
must be fitted with its proper size of shoe; 
there should be neither tightness nor any 
excess of roominess. Shoes that were too 
large have helped to cripple or at least 
weaken the feet of myriads. As to the other 
extreme of too-tight shoes no word should 
be needed. 

Assuming, though, that the reader has a 
shoe of perfect and natural fit, even then 
he may find his footgear painful at times. 
It may be that the strain put on his feet has 
caused them to swell almost imperceptibly, 
or it may be that the shoes were recently 
soaked through in a storm, and are now too 
tight, and will be until wear has stretched 
them once more to the proper amount of 



1 88 Keeping Fit through the Day 

accommodation. At such a time the shoe 
may be made to feel much more comfort- 
able by the employment of shoe powder. 
There are several of these on the market, 
and they are good, but they are too high- 
priced. The basis of all of these powders 
that the writer has seen is plain talcum, also 
known as powdered French chalk. The 
plain talcum will serve every purpose of foot 
comfort as well as the trade-marked pre- 
parations. The man who has much foot 
discomfort, in spite of his wearing the best 
fitting shoes obtainable, will do well to keep 
this talcum on hand. A little of it sprinkled 
in the bottom of either shoe will make life 
look brighter. 

Corns and bunions should generally be 
treated, and often, by the expert chiropodist. 
Callouses, usually appearing on the soles of 
the feet, may just as well be scraped by the 
unfortunate owner. This should be done 
very frequently, for neglected callouses are 
sometimes as painful as corns. They may 
readily be scraped after leaving the warm 



Keeping Fit through the Day 189 

bath, or the feet may be soaked in hot 
water by way of special preparation for the 
scraping. 

With every provision made, there may 
still be discomfort in the pedal extremities. 
It should not be caused by too much walking, 
for any man in normal health should be 
capable of walking for a few hours through 
the day. The explanation is generally 
found in the fact that the sufferer has done 
an unusual amount of standing, with but 
little motion. Standing is several times 
more fatiguing than walking. As proof of 
this may be cited again, as was done in 
Chapter II., the cases of mail carriers who go 
over their routes daily during thirty or more 
years. Yet hotel men state that the life 
of an average waiter does not exceed more 
than four years in that employment. After 
that he must find other work. That there 
are men who have been waiters for a score 
of years is true, but these instances are rare, 
and in every case it will be discovered that 
the waiter had found a way of favouring 



190 Keeping Fit through the Day 

himself, withdrawing from view frequently 
and sitting. 

There is no remedy to be offered to the 
man who actually stands for hours daily. 
The nearest approach to such a remedy is 
for him to find more frequent opportunity 
to seat himself. Sitting down for a few 
minutes at a time will bring great relief, 
before the day is over, to the man who has 
used himself up by excessive standing. 

Men who have been in the habit of stand- 
ing much usually complain of pain in the 
back. There is a direct connection, for the 
back muscles are unavoidably weakened 
through shifting the weight from one foot to 
the other instead of keeping the body's 
weight where it belongs — squarely on both 
feet at the same time. The strengthening 
of the back muscles through the employment 
of the setting-up drills will relieve this trouble 
to some extent, but it is also true that in- 
correct standing will hinder the proper 
development of the back muscles. 

''I have to stand a good deal during the 



Keeping Fit through the Day 191 

earlier part of the day," complained one 
man. ''It is often three o'clock by the time 
I am able to seat myself in earnest at my 
desk. ' Then pain and stiffness creep over 
me. If I have to rise by four o'clock I dread 
to do it, and postpone the act of rising as 
long as possible. When it comes time to 
start home I am usually suffering, and I'm 
not really rested when I leave home in the 
morning." 

This man needs the setting-up drills; he 
needs also to ponder carefully over all the 
points that have been suggested about the 
care of the feet. Above all, he needs to 
minimize the amount of standing as much 
as possible. There is relief in sight for him 
and he will be able to quit his place of 
business toward night feeling nearly as 
vimful and energized as when he started 
out in the morning. More than that, he 
will feel really alive each morning. 

*'My chief remains at his desk nearly all 
day," explained the young assistant to a 
chemical engineer, ''and I have to do the 



192 Keeping Fit through the Day 

running through the plant. TU wager that 
I must walk nearly ten miles every day; 
some days the total distance may reach 
fifteen miles. It isn't like walking outdoors 
in the fresh air, and I'm usually so done up 
that I don't stir much after the evening 
meal." 

This is a clear case calling for setting-up 
work and the care of the feet. Palpably, 
too, the estimate of the distance walked 
daily through the plant was unconsciously 
exaggerated. If the young man actually 
walked the distances that he believed he did, 
then he would not have time left in which to 
attend to many matters on his rounds and 
still put in time at his desk tasks. The 
probability is that this young man walked 
much less than he believed he did, but that 
he stood too much. 

Reference has already been made to the 
need that the average man has of making 
his back muscles stronger and more supple, 
and also to the danger of undoing some of 
the building-up work in the back when one 



Keeping Fit through the Day 193 

lounges in more or less strained attitudes in 
a chair. Just as the muscles may be built 
up by the right training, they may be broken 
down by bad habits. Nor are weak or 
weakening backs confined entirely to those 
who have never paid much heed to exercise. 
Many a formerly successful football player, 
for instance, has, in after years, developed 
a weak back and has found consequent 
strain appearing after he has been a few 
hours at his work. 

The habit of lounging in attitudes that 
are really uncomfortable is much more 
prevalent than one would be inclined to 
believe until he has made a good many 
observations of those about him. It is not 
uncommon even among athletes. Note 
waiting baseball players on the bench. Study 
their attitudes, and then try some of these 
out to see if they do not really invite fatigue 
when persisted in. The same thing will be 
noted among football players lounging in 
dressing quarters before going out to ''warm 
up" or play. In the athlete the lounging is 
13 



194 Keeping Fit through the Day 

not as disastrous, for there is much in his 
training and work in the field that counter- 
acts the bad effects. In a business man 
without exercise, or with only a light amount 
daily, uncomfortable lounging is much worse 
and teaches the muscles bad habits that 
speedily invite weakness — i.e., the inability 
to endure well physically through the whole 
of a business day. 

Too often men who have thorough faith 
in the value of frequent deep breathing will 
be found practising it indoors, where they 
do not know and have no reason to believe 
that the air is pure. It is assuredly wise, 
when practicable, to take deep breaths two 
or three times an hour throughout the day. 
Done in impure air, however, the practice is 
harmful. All deep inbreathing of air should 
be done in the purest air that may be had, 
and this is either found outdoors or brought 
in from outside. So when one is indoors 
and would breathe deeply, he should first 
raise a window and stand close to it. In a 
business office this raising of windows on a 



Keeping Fit through the Day 195 

cold or windy day is very likely to be re- 
sented by others. It is often possible, 
though, to step into a corridor and raise a 
window without annoying anyone. 

When one has occasion to be out in the 
open it is always possible to take deep 
breaths in abundance, but even here some 
caution has to be observed. When the wind 
is blowing dust down the street deep breath- 
ing cannot well be practised. Even when 
one is breathing deeply, and an automobile 
whizzes by, leaving a cloud of dust by way 
of wake, one should close his mouth and 
take only as much breath as required through 
the nostrils until the dust cloud has subsided. 
Deep breathing, once the real art is mastered, 
and carried out under proper conditions, is 
a very capable banisher of muscular fatigue. 

Fatigue, especially when it reaches the 
point of dull aching, is a very disagreeable 
thing to have to endure. Its worst feature, 
perhaps, is that it affects one's carriage and 
bearing, and makes him less impressive and 
convincing among his fellows. Hence every 



196 Keeping Fit through the Day 

little means of avoiding or overcoming undue 
fatigue should be studied and employed. 
The normal man, going through a normal 
day, should feel little sense of fatigue even 
when he begins to disrobe for the night. 
Such unhappy persons as insomniacs have 
often been advised to induce almost severe 
fatigue just before retiring. In the author's 
belief it is pernicious counsel. He has heard 
many complaints from insomniacs that, when 
fatigued to the aching point, they usually 
lie awake for hours. Physiologists have 
demonstrated that definite substances known 
as fatigue toxins may be generated in the 
body. It is not possible to believe that the 
presence of toxins of any sort in the body 
may be made beneficial. 

Sleep is a process brought about by in- 
creasing anemia of the brain. As blood is 
carried to the brain by intense thought the 
best way to induce slumber is to cultivate 
the habit of thinking of nothing except the 
most trivial things when closing the eyes as 
an invitation to the night's rest. Thinking 



Keeping Fit through the Day 197 

of subjects that in themselves breathe of 
indolence will affect the anemia of the brain 
favourably. Even if it could be proved 
that' fatigue toxins, coursing through the 
brain in the circulating blood, induced early- 
sleep, it certainly could not be argued sanely 
that sleep induced by the effect of toxins 
on the brain is a wise sleep to bring about. 

It will be recalled that, earlier in this 
volume, the student was advised to time his 
evening bout of exercise so that it would end 
some minutes before preparations for bed 
are begun. In cases of real insomnia it may 
be found, in some cases, still better to omit 
the evening bout altogether. 

Recently, on an unusually cold night, a 
young man failed to open a window in his 
sleeping room. The next day he mentioned 
this to the writer, adding : 

' * I slept better than usual last night. Once 
in a while I think it may do one good to sleep 
in a closed room.'' 

**How did you feel this morning?'' he was 
asked. 



198 Keeping Fit through the Day 

''Oh, I don't know/' he replied, uncer- 
tainly. *'I feel a bit 'heavy,' I'll admit, so 
I guess I must have slept too long. " 

Sleeping in a closed room forces one to 
breathe impure air through the night. Im- 
pure air, as any school child knows, is poison- 
ous. The best explanation that can be 
offered, if the sleep were really deep and 
sound, is that the young man drugged himself 
into continued unconsciousness by repeated 
inhalation of poisonous air. Such "drug- 
ging" can hardly be defended on any rational 
grounds, and the most that can be said of the 
young man in question is that his usual 
physical performance, as contrasted with his 
powerful-looking figure, is not such as to 
invite confidence in his methods. 

Just as one will be more refreshed when 
awakening on a winter's morning after a 
night's sleep in a room with an open window, 
so will the wise sleeper go through the entire 
day with less mental and physical sloth. A 
sufficient abundance of fresh, pure air for 
the lungs in every hour of the day and night 



Keeping Fit through the Day 199 

is one of the best foundations on which to 
build the no-fatigue business day. In street 
cars, and unfortunately in most places of 
business, one cannot usually have sufficient 
ventilation during business hours. The best 
substitute is to secure fresh, outdoor breath- 
ing air as often as possible in the daytime 
and all through the night of rest. 

One man who confesses to a sense of luxury 
in the matter of heat in winter, yet also pro- 
fesses conviction as to the need of an open 
window in the sleeping room, has combined 
his desires in a way that is not open to every 
human being. In his sleeping apartment 
he has the steam turned off and a window 
open. Adjoining the sleeping room are a 
sitting room and bathroom. These he keeps 
well heated through the night. When he is 
ready to rise in the morning he slips out of 
bed and makes a dash into the sitting room, 
where he is at once as warm as he wishes to 
be, and toilet and dressing are carried on 
leisurely. When this man decides to take 
up the exercises advocated in this volume 



200 Keeping Fit through the Day 

he will undoubtedly slip into the sitting 
room to don his exercise ''togs'' and then go 
back to the cold bedroom for his drill, after- 
wards returning and bathing in warm quar- 
ters and dressing as leisurely as may be 
preferred. Though hardy souls will hardly 
care for so much luxury in the morning, not 
very much can be said against such a 
plan. 

In older days a famous circus clown made 
a part of his ''act," through several seasons, 
by calling out when the ring had to be 
cleared of carpets, mats, stands, and other 
accessories : 

"Now, hurry, boys, and 111 help you clear 
the ring.'* 

Then he dashed from one set of workers to 
another, in a frenzy of bustle, yet always 
arriving too late to be of any help in remov- 
ing the things that were being taken out of 
the ring. The ' ' properties ' ' were all removed 
expeditiously by the ringmaster's assistants, 
but the clown, dashing hither and thither 
at top speed, had not laid hand to a single 



Keeping Fit through the Day 201 

movable thing. That clown thereby gave a 
few valuable '* pointers" to observing specta- 
tors. There are men who bustle about as 
though they were trying to imitate a car 
with a twelve-cylinder engine. They race 
from one task to another, burning up a good 
deal of unnecessary energy, yet accomplish- 
ing no more than their quieter associates. 
Such a man will show a marked diminution 
of speed before noon, and by afternoon will 
be doing little. Nothing that has been 
written in these pages will be of much help 
to the man who invariably bustles. The 
race for success will not be won by him. 

Of the two the persistent bustler will be 
less efficient than the average lounger. The 
fault with the latter is that he is training his 
muscles to bad habits; the bustler is burning 
up more energy than his human machine is 
geared for. The lounger, if he feel real need 
of rest, will secure it properly if he can slip 
away and lie down flat for five minutes or so, 
relaxing all parts of the body. When one is 
afflicted, during the day, with real fatigue, 



202 Keeping Fit through the Day- 
two or three five-minute rests of this kind 
will prove a real help in maintaining one's 
energy at the best throughout the busy day. 
One man of the writer's acquaintance in- 
variably lies on his back and relaxes for ten 
minutes before dressing for dinner. He does 
not look like a weakly man, either, but he 
has a reputation for conserving all that he 
possesses, even his own bodily endurance. 

Some men, the strongest, know that 
mental fatigue in any ordinary degree does 
not begin to impair the bodily energies, and 
that some form of brisk physical employ- 
ment will clear away the gathering cobwebs 
in the brain. Men of less endurance will 
often complain that when their heads are 
tired their bodies are also. Those of the 
latter class will soon discover that two or 
three five-minute rests, flat and relaxed, 
while thinking only of trivial things, will 
bring restoration to both brain and body. 
To those in need of following this method 
ten or fifteen minutes so spent in every 
business day will prove a profitable invest- 



Keeping Fit through the Day 203 

ment when the total of accompHshment 
under this method is considered. 

Men who feel that, for some removable 
reason, they are failing to get the best out 
of their days will in most cases be able to 
find the reason between the covers of this 
volume. This statement is made on the 
assumption that such readers are not ill, and 
not deficient in will power. The man who is 
ill needs his physician, even though he be 
moderately ill. He who is lacking in strength 
of will needs nothing so much as searching 
and caustic communion with himself. It 
needs a fair exercise of the will, in fact, for a 
man to forego some things and to devote 
two brief periods in every day to systematic 
training. The necessary amount of will 
employed, however, the student will soon 
discover reward in the increasingly palpable 
fact that systematized bodily drill is actually 
increasing his total of will force. As such 
will power increases it will be a mistake to 
employ that profit in the will to the point of 
increasing the length and vigour of the 



204 Keeping Fit through the Day 

exercise period unreasonably. Even in such 
a beneficial thing as systematized exercise it 
is easily possible to go too far. One of the 
best proofs of the possession of a serviceable 
will is to do everything in moderation. 



CHAPTER X 

THE FINAL FACTORS OF BODILY FITNESS 

PRE going through many pages of this 
^ volume the reader has comprehended 
the fact that the mere performance of the 
exercises daily does not, of itself, give all 
that the business man desires in the way of 
good bodily carriage and correct, impressive 
bearing. The physical drills train the 
muscles to do their work well. In other 
words, when the brain does its work well the 
muscular system will respond like the dis- 
ciplined soldier. 

One may have perfectly trained muscles 
and yet, through inattention, appear at a 
disadvantage. A well-organized muscular 
system does not prohibit the owner from 
slumping; it enables him to carry himself in 

correct pose and attitude without fatigue. 

205 



2o6 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

The man who is slovenly in physical matters, 
on the other hand, will suffer both bodily and 
mentally, at first, in trying always to stand 
and comport himself correctly. It is un- 
deniable, however, that daily work at setting- 
up drills quickly invites a better mental 
attitude toward right control of appearance 
and carriage. 

The man who allows his shoulders to fall 
forward, who lounges in his seat, who stands 
shifting from one foot to the other, alter- 
nately throwing the weight from one leg to 
the other, presents an unpleasant sight. 
Contrasting faults are to stand with an 
exaggerated effect of erectness, so that the 
body is thrown backward past the true 
centre of gravity, to sit bolt upright in a 
chair unceasingly, or to stand rigidly on 
both feet, never shifting the standing position 
in the least. Correct carriage, combined 
with ease and just sufficient flexibility, gives 
the desired effect of naturalness without 
slovenliness. The reader may not justly be 
accused of vanity if he pose before a pier 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 207 

mirror, practising easy bearings and noting 
which really gives him the most impressive 
appearance. Not much attention, however, 
need be given to this posing until a few weeks 
of twice-daily exercises have put his muscles 
in condition to do their part. 

When the right bodily carriage has been 
worked for and obtained it is no hardship 
for one to keep it always. In fact, good 
bodily control puts the possessor more at 
ease, exposes him less to fatigue, and saves 
the beholder from annoyance or irritation. 
The point cannot be brought out too strongly 
that one of the great essentials of good bodily 
carriage is that one's bearing and attitudes 
should not weary the beholder nor impress 
him with the futility of the man before him. 
Nor does the entire value come through being 
able to make an excellent impression on an 
outsider whom the reader has to meet in a 
business way. Sound bearing and fine ap- 
pearance have an equal effect on one's 
employer or senior partner. Even the head 
of a great business will find it important to 



2o8 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

be able to make a good physical appearance 
before his subordinates, for it impresses the 
underlings with a sense of being led by a man 
able in all respects. 

Nothing in the drills set forth in these 
pages will correct one fault of bearing and 
movement that is far more common than it 
should be. That fault consists in walking 
too briskly — sharply — and in making abrupt 
movements that amount to jerkiness. Some 
men habitually use such movements as 
though they believe that thereby they attract 
added attention. Undoubtedly they do, 
but the attention so secured is not of the 
mc3t favourable kind. The opposite fault 
is to move so slowly and dawdlingly that 
the beholder wonders how long it is go- 
ing to take for his caller to go into real 
action. 

A fault destructive of good appearance 
in carriage and bearing is the mistake of 
brusque speech. This speech is not always, 
nor even usually, ill-natured, but in the first 
place it always gives the hearer an impression 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 209 

of at least undue haste. Further, brusque 
speech does not impress with a sense of the 
exhibitor's good breeding, and of the value 
of this latter asset in intercourse there can 
be no dissenting opinion. An even, well 
bred tone, with no appearance of frown, is 
ideal even in the infrequent moments when 
censure is being passed. In former years the 
writer has seen this well exemplified several 
times in the Army when, perhaps, it was a 
colonel who called up some junior officer 
and told the young man of faults that were 
ruining his career in the Service. At such 
times the colonel would keep his face placid 
while talking, did not raise his voice, confined 
himself always to the language of courtesy, 
and yet the junior officer knew quite well 
that he was receiving severe censure and 
that he stood at a crisis in his military 
career. On his part the junior, though he 
fully understood the severe excoriation that 
was passing to him, listened respectfully, 
without any sign of resentment. The con- 
versation ended, the veteran and the junior 
14 



210 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

parted without sign of anger on either side 
and usually with mutual self-respect. A 
bearing so thoroughbred would be invaluable 
to both parties to any conversation in which 
reproof is being administered. 

As the antithesis of brusqueness many a 
man permits himself — sometimes encourages 
himself — to exhibit an air of indifference 
amounting to a positive display of boredom. 
Any appearance of indifference, except in 
the face of verbal insult from an unworthy 
insulter, is prejudicial to good appearance. 
The exhibition of at least the semblance of 
cordial interest in the most trifling details 
was a marked characteristic of one of the 
most famous and successful railroad heads 
in New York City. 

While it is not an infallible rule it will be 
noted that in most instances men who are 
indifferent or bored listeners are about 
equally negligent of their bearing and car- 
riage. On the other hand, the really well 
bred and ''human'' occupant of a chair in a 
business office is very likely to be just as 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 211 

much interested as is his caller in presenting 
a clean-cut and attractive personality. It is 
to this type, more than to any other, that 
a method of training the muscles to do their 
manifest duty through a business day will 
appeal. 

While, on rare occasions, one may neglect 
his sleep without serious damage to his bear- 
ing, it is none the less true that a night's 
good rest must precede the effective business 
day. No man who is going through an 
ordeal of insufficient slumber night after 
night may hope to look anything like his 
best. A yawn is an especially bad thing to 
introduce into a business conversation. When 
the body is really tired every flexible part 
of it tends to *' slump" and one*s physical 
personality, at least, is inevitably degraded 
below the efficient mark. Some clever men, 
when their minds are not at their best, are 
able to conceal the fact. No amount of 
preening and careful physical self-control 
will hide the weariness of the body from 
a really keen observer. And the average 



212 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

successful business man is a keen observer; 
he owes to that fact much of his success. 

When it comes to the question of how much 
sleep is needed each night there will be great 
divergence of honest opinion. One of our 
famous scientists preferred a night of four 
hours' sleep. Thanks to his tremendous 
store of reserve force he is believed to have 
gotten along for some years with such an 
allowance of slumber. In the end, however, 
according to press reports, he was obliged 
to seek medical aid and the first order he 
received was to indulge himself in a much 
longer period of rest at night. 

Few will attempt to argue that four hours' 
sleep in a night should suffice as a regular 
thing. The present writer is acquainted 
with several men, however, who habitually 
take not more than six hours of rest per 
night, and these men honestly believe that 
most people who take more " steep their 
brains in stupidity," as one objector to a 
long period of slumber phrased it. Un- 
doubtedly a few men, here and there, are 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 213 

able to get all the rest they really need in 
six hours, but there are few men who can 
really endure such short rest in each twenty- 
four hours, and beyond a doubt many of the 
men who attempt it pay for it both in mental 
and bodily efficiency. In other words, by 
trying to make the waking day too long they 
really shorten their lives and impair their 
chances while alive. 

**But I feel keener than I did when I 
regularly took two or three hours* more 
sleep, *' some of these six-hour sleepers insist. 
Alcohol and some other drugs will often 
make men feel keener for the time being; 
it is the deadly reaction that counts against 
alcohol and drug users. In the majority of 
cases of six-hour rests the reaction, while 
more delayed, is about equally sure to come 
in the end. 

For men who really cannot sleep longer, 
seven hours may be written down as a safer 
allowance of sleep per day. Yet the man 
who adheres to such a schedule should take 
careful and frequent note of his feelings and 



214 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

condition in order to make sure that he is 
not deceiving himself. Certainly it is wiser 
and safer to err on the side of a bit too much 
sleep rather than to impose on one's self a 
daily allowance of sleep that is insufficient. 

To the claim that too little sleep makes 
one mentally keener the writer, after con- 
siderable experience in that line, must offer 
an emphatic dissent. Once he ''got along" 
on a total of sixteen hours' sleep in seven 
days, most of the remainder of the time being 
spent in active physical exertion. It was 
in the Philippines, when the writer was 
attached to General MacArthur's Division 
as a correspondent. At the beginning of the 
week the General outlined his plan of cam- 
paign for the next seven days, mentioning 
the time when he expected to reach and 
occupy several named points ahead. It 
looked like a combination of chess and time- 
table as the General sketched his plan in a 
map drawn with a stick in the sand. 

**Come along with me and see if I can do 
it," was the General's smiling invitation. 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 215 

It looked so much like a challenge that the 
writer accepted. There followed seven days 
and nights of restless, ever onward movement. 
The troops themselves had fair amounts of 
sleep, but the correspondent, at night, was 
frequently in saddle moving to some more 
distant point on the line that he needed to 
reach before daylight. Sixteen hours was 
the record of sleep for those seven days and 
nights. During that time the writer will 
admit that, for the first three or four days, he 
judged his mental capacity to be about as 
usual, perhaps a trifle keener, but this latter 
fact may be accounted for by considering the 
unusual excitement and interest of the time. 
During the last two days and nights, cer- 
tainly, the correspondent did not feel any- 
thing like keen mentally. 

At last, the week ended, and the game of 
war chess ended exactly as General Mac- 
Arthur had predicted that it would be, the 
writer found a cot, tumbled on to it, arranged 
his blankets, and dropped into a sleep that 
knew no moments of waking until fourteen 



2i6 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

hours had passed. The next day, after the 
long sleep that had followed the long depriva- 
tion, the writer certainly did not find himself 
up to anything like his usual pitch of mental 
or bodily condition. And all through that 
day there was nothing but lassitude and 
discontent with things in general. That 
was an extreme instance of getting along on 
short amounts of sleep. There have been 
periods in other years in which the writer 
has been obliged — or thought he was — to 
make an average of six hours' sleep suffice 
in each twenty-four hours for two or three 
weeks at a time. He knows quite well that 
in such periods he was not at his best, and 
that real physical exertion became distasteful. 
On the other hand, he has often made an 
allowance of seven hours per day suffice in 
the way of rest, when it seemed necessary, 
though he always went back to eight hours 
of rest when the pressure of work was relaxed. 
Eight hours would seem to be the normal 
amount of sleep for nearly every man. Apart 
from any individual opinions eight hours 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 217 

may be said to be the average arrived at by 
the general experience of mankind. Who- 
ever takes less than eight hours of sleep in 
the twenty-four may expect to ''pay," and 
it will be a sight draft that will be presented, 
some day, without warning. The writer 
can look back on several well-known men of 
short-sleep tendencies who, as the report- 
ers phrased it, ''died suddenly yesterday.*' 
And most of these men, up to the end, con- 
tended that short sleep served them better 
and that they felt in thoroughly good health. 

With some men "eight hours" becomes an 
expression in which the "eight" has only an 
incidental value. Such a young man, who 
has no necessity for regular occupation, is 
known to the writer. 

"I always take eight hours' sleep," said 
this young man. He retired at midnight, 
reappearing at eleven in the morning. 

"I thought it was to be eight hours," the 
writer remarked. 

"That's right," gaped the young man. 
"That's what I had," 



2i8 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

''But you turned in at midnight, and out 
again at eleven in the forenoon." 

''Yes, but I didn't fall asleep until about 
three o'clock this morning, " came the prompt 
answer. 

Actually, then, he had eight hours' sleep, 
though he enjoyed eleven hours of rest. He 
confessed that, usually, he lay awake a long 
time after retiring. Even though he did not 
fall asleep until three in the morning, he 
would have done much better had he risen 
at eight. That course, persisted in for a 
few days, would have brought him to a 
normal eight-hour rest, nearly every minute 
of which would have been spent in sound 
slumber. 

Except among idlers the nine-hour men 
are not numerous. Undoubtedly there are 
some men who require that much in the way 
of sleep. If experience teaches them that 
they really need nine hours in bed every 
night then they do well to indulge themselves, 
but they must look upon themselves as being 
exceptional cases. 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 219 

In the larger cities men are found by 
thousands who, on the sleep question, form 
a class by themselves. Unless men of this 
class can make a wholesome change in their 
present habits no system of bodily training 
can help them to continue long to appear 
like men who are seriously in the race for 
success. This class can best be described 
by one of them. 

"Sleep?" he repeated, nervously. ''If I 
could get my sleep in the daytime I guess I 
would be all right. You see, I have to be 
up at about six in the morning, for I am 
obliged to be at my office at eight. No, I 
do not feel right when I get up, and some- 
times I find myself dozing in the street car 
on my way to the office. After a while I get 
fairly started in my day's work, and I do not 
usually feel as badly after that. My work 
keeps me downtown until five, and I am 
home at a little before six. Dinner over, I 
am ready to go out by half -past seven or 
eight in the evening. Home by ten? What 
chance would that leave me for any amuse- 



220 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

ment? Real city life, with a bit of pleasure 
thrown in, means late hours; you ought to 
know that. At what time am I abed? 
Once in a while I am out as late as two in the 
morning. Very often I am in bed by mid- 
night, but sometimes, perhaps once or twice 
a week, if I am in before two in the morning 
it may be by one o'clock. 

*' Short sleep? Perhaps that is true, but 
what is a man to do who isn't content to 
drive like a slave all day and then have no 
amusement at night? I would as soon be 
out of the world altogether as to read the 
newspaper at home for an hour or so and 
then go to bed! 

'' I have told you how I feel in the daytime; 
half-dead when I first rise and when I begin 
at the office, then a bit brighter through the 
day until late in the afternoon, when I begin 
to feel as if I could not do another thing. 
Yet when evening comes it is usually as if 
I had just waked up. I have a pretty good 
time when I am out at social affairs. The 
theatre doesn't suit me as well, for some- 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 221 

thing — the close, hot air, perhaps — ^generally 
makes me drowsy. 

"On Sundays I have little to do. As a 
rule I sleep until noon on that day. After 
breakfast I read Sunday newspapers. Late 
in the afternoon I often take a nap. Sunday 
nights I practise your early-to-bed scheme, 
and there is where I find that early retiring 
isn't suited to all men, for Sunday nights I 
do not usually sleep well! I believe that, 
if I could get into bed every night, Sundays 
included, just before midnight, I'd feel 
better than under any other system. But 
one can't always manage that if he is 
fond of pleasure. No; it cannot always be 
done. Moving toward physical wreck? I? 
That is clear nonsense. I look well enough, 
don't I?" 

The young man who spoke was twenty- 
eight years old; he looked at least ten years 
older. His attire was neat and he kept 
himself rather well groomed, yet there was 
about him an indefinable air of approaching 
decay. He was burning the candle at both 



222 Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 

ends, and with forced draught at that. He 
had not received promotion during the last 
three years, and there was that in his general 
appearance which was likely to induce a 
prudent chief to advise him erelong to seek 
other fields. He was not dissipated in the 
alcoholic sense, but was a slave to pleasure. 
If he did not promptly mend his physical 
ways he was scheduled for the down grade 
before he reached thirty. In any case, 
without change of habits, early physical 
collapse was inevitable. The sad feature 
about his case was that he did not realize 
his physical straits, nor was he likely to 
attain to that knowledge until too late. 

Every reader who seeks success will do 
well to make sure, first of all, that his sleep 
allowance is right, and that he has the whole 
of it. His next care must be as to fresh air 
and deep breathing. His third care should 
be that his dietetic habits are correct. 
Then he may turn to exercise of the sort that 
will keep his muscles and nerves alive and 
will make possible the correct bodily carriage 



Final Factors of Bodily Fitness 223 

that has so much to do with making his path 
easy to success and self-confidence. 

Proper exercise is one of the finest, as well 
as one of the freest gifts that man may offer 
himself, but the best physical drills, unless 
all the necessary good habits that should 
accompany them are assured, are of little or 
no value. 

With the assumption granted that good 
intelligence is present, will power then be- 
comes the most valuable factor in success, 
integrity being also assumed as a part of 
intelligence. Will power itself is surely in- 
creased by sensible, regular exercise and its 
accompanying good habits! The path to 
success and happiness is an open roadstead. 

THE END 



Jiu=Jitsu Combat Tricks 

By H. IRVING HANCOCK 

12°, with 32 Illustrations from Life 
Net, $1.25. (By mail, $1.35) 

CONTENTS 

I. — Preliminary Training — How to Strengthen the Hands for 
Attack, and how to Toughen the Vulnerable Parts for De- 
fense — Practice must be Constant. 
II. — An Ordinary Throat-hold, its Throw-off and the Sequence — 

A Scientific Jiu-jitsu Throat-hold. 
III.— Throat-hold Attack and Counter Defenses— A Throat-hold 
from the Rear and its Combination with a Throw— The 
Defense — Different Styles of Hand Blows. 
IV.— The Right and the Wrong Way to Trip— How to Dodge the 
Trip — How to Kneel and Trip an Adversary — Counters 
that are Possible. 
V. — Throat-hold and Arm-Throws over the Shoulder— The 
Kneeling and Rising Throw over the Shoulder — How to 
Render the Fallen Adversary Helpless. 
VI.— Boxer Tricks Utterly Useless against Jiu-jitsu Adept — 
Edge of the Hand more Dangerous than the Clenched Fist 
— Stopping the Blows of the Boxer. 
VII. — Arm Hook and Fend-off against Boxer — Fend-off and Kidney 
Blow — More about Side, Kidney, and Abdomen Blows — 
When and How to Use them — The Base-of-Spine Blow. 
VIII. — The Neatest of all Ways of Stopping a Boxer — Flooring and 
Holding him Helpless without Doing him Damage — 
Other Effective Ways. 
IX.— Forcing the Boxer to Fend his Own Blow— The Fall that 
Follows — Guarding against the Throat-hold and the Solar- 
Plexus Jab. 
X. — Two Safe, Certain, and Easy Holds — Straining the Adver- 
sary's Arm over the Shoulder — How the Victory may be 
Followed up with a Throw. 
XI, — Tricks that may be Described as Humorous — " The Devil's 
Handshake" — How a Japanese Policeman Forces a 
Prisoner to Accompany him — The Value of this Trick in 
Ejecting a Troublesome Person. 
XII. — The Way of Exposing Sham Unconsciousness — The Shoulder 
Pinch as a Means of Defense — A Handy Method of Stop- 
ping a Fight— An Attack from Behind— Its Application to 
Burglars. 
XIII.^ — Two Excellent Combination Attacks for Extreme Occasions 
— How to Stop a Passing Fugitive — How to Overtake a 
Fugitive and Reduce him to Submission. 
XIV. — Some Nice Problems in Attack and Defense that the Student 
can Solve with the Aid of what has been Described and the 
Hints that are Given. 
XV. — Finishing Touches in the Japanese Science of Attack and De- 
fense — A Summary of the Best Feats for Women to Practise 
and to Use at Need — Final Caution. 
"For one wishing to become proficient in the art of self-defense 
this book written by an authority on physical training is invaluable." 
— Cornell Era, 

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The Physical Culture Life 

A Guide to All who Seek the Simple 
Laws of Abounding Health 

By H. IRVINQ HANCOCK 

Crown octavoy with 22 Full-page Illustrations 

taken from Life. Net, $z.25. 

(By mail, $1.35) 

The volume presents in a clear and suc- 
cinct way the real aim and methods of the 
physical culture movement that is marching 
onward in England and the United States. 
It explains all of the essential and ascertained 
facts of physical culture, with the idea of 
inducing every reader to begin to be his 
own safe physical custodian. 

It treats of athletics rather as an incidental, 
the main theme being to emphasize the im- 
portance of obeying the simple laws of nature 
in matters of food, hygiene, rest, and exercise, 
whereby those who are constitutionally weak 
may attain abounding health. 

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By H, IRVING HANCOCK 



Physical Training for Women 

By Japanese Methods. With 32 full-page Illustrations 
from Life. 

Jiu-Jitsu Combat Tricks 

Japanese Peats of Attack and Defence in Personal En- 
counter. With 32 full-page Illustrations from life. 

The Physical=Culture Life 

A Guide for All who Seek the Simple Laws of Abound- 
ing Health. With 22 full-page Illustrations from Life. 

Each volume, net, $1.25 

Mr. Hancock's volumes, thoroughly covering the sub- 
ject, are based on Kano the official Jiu-jitsu of Japan; 
and the only system recognized by the Japanese Govern- 
ment. 

Jiu-jitsu has been practised for 2500 years and has 
long been acknowledged as the most wonderful of all 
systems in building up the perfect, healthy body. Based 
on common sense, it has been justified by splendid and 
unsurpassed results. 

" Gives power over an adversary that counts for more than 
strength.*' — Phila, Telegraph. 

" The best books on physical training that have been published 
for a long time," — Chicago Record Herald, 

Life at West Point 

The Making of the American Army OfBcer : His 
Studies, Discipline, and Amusements. With an Intro- 
duction by Albert L. Mills. With 25 Illustrations. 

12°. Gilt top. $1.50. 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York London 



Physical Training for Women 
By Japanese Metliods 

By H. IRVINQ HANCOCK 

12'', with 32 Full-page Illustrations 
Net, $1.25. (By mail, $1.35) 

CONTENTS 

I, — The Basis of the Japanese Physical Training that 
is Intended Especially for Women — Absurdity 
of the Existence of the ** Weaker Sex." 
II. — Additional Preliminary Exercises for the Develop- 
ment of the Body. 
III. — Advanced Work, to be Taken up after a Few 

Weeks of Preliminary Training. 
IV. — Especial Exercises for the Waist-line and for the 
Organs. 
V. — Fresh Air the Vitaliser in Womanhood — Some 
Other Suggestions. 
VI. — Exercises for the Back, Especially for the Small 
of the Back. 
VII.—The Perfect Chest — The Best Development for 
the Hollow of the Back, and for Giving 
Strength and Proper Proportions to Arms and 
Legs. 
VIII. — Strength in the Neck, Upper and Lower Arms, 
and Wrists, the Thighs, Upper and Lower Legs, 
and Ankles. 
IX. — Obesity and Leanness, and the Remedies. 
X. — On: Out^' ^or Sports for Women, as Seen from the 
j apr^neae View-point. 
XL — Sleep and its Value. 

XII. — The Age at which Girls should Begin the Study 
of '* Jiu-jitsu." 

"The most wonderful of all systems in building up the perfect, 
healthy body,**— Detroit Free Press, 

"A real addition to the literature of physical training." — TAe 
Nation* 

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